Inkheart
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Directed by: Iain Softley
Starring:
Brendan Fraser - Mo Folchart
Paul Bettany - Dustfinger
Helen Mirren - Elinor Loredan
Jim Broadbent - Fenoglio
Andy Serkis - Capricorn
Eliza Hope Bennett - Meggie Folchart
Sienna Guillory - Resa
Rafi Gavron - Farid
There are two films happening with Inkheart. One film is populated by actors giving good performances in interesting roles. The other film is sadly, the one that dominates, Inkheart, a film that thinks it can coast on magic when what it really needs is some serious polish.
Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) is a "silvertongue" meaning that whatever he reads aloud comes into the real world. The trade-off is that something from our world then falls into the book. Playing coy for no reason, the film delays in the necessary exposition that Mo read from a book called "Inkheart" and lost his wife inside its pages but pulled out characters Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) and the villainous Capricorn (Andy Serkis). Folchart's copy of Inkheart was lost in the chaos so he's been spending the past nine years with his daughter Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) trying to find a new copy. Meanwhile, Capricorn is trying to capture Mo so he can use his ability for wealth, world domination, and all that good stuff.
Unfortunately, Inkheart is a mess. At the beginning, Mo seems to want to avoid Dustfinger even though they both want the same thing (to be reuninted with their wives) and why they wouldn't be working together for the past nine years is never explained. Nor is it explained why it never occurs to Mo to simply seek out the author from the start rather than trek around the used bookshops of Europe trying to find a copy of Inkheart. Also, if Mo draws characters out of the novel, then does that change all the novels in the world? Instead of taking time to explain the rules, the film decides to be highly redundant as characters repeatedly leave Capricorn's castle only to return for one reason or another.
The film's redemption comes from the supporting cast, most of all Bettany, who gives a very mature performance for a family film. It's odd seeing Bettany's character arc contrasted against Fraser. Both want to be reunited with their wives, but Dustfinger is willing to make mistakes and dubious decisions so he can achieve his goal. He wrestles with his decisions and fights to make his own choices and not have his life determined by the way he was written. Mo and Meggie, on the other hand, just feels like plot devices. It's as if the filmmakers discovered in the editing room that they had it all backwards and that Dustfinger is really the film's star because his actor is actually trying to give a real performance. There's a scene where Fraser discovers his missing wife's drawings and he just stares blankly at them. No tears, barely a smile, it just happens. It's a big disappointment especially since I know that Fraser is better than what he is in this movie.
Inkheart does mange to find support from some great art direction and strong performances from Helen Mirren (who gets to ride a unicorn, which when this year is over, will be counted as one of the best moments of 2009), Jim Broadbent, and Andy Serkis, all of whom, along with Bettany, seem to be operating in a better film. Sadly, the film we're stuck with is led by weak performances from Bennett and the usually-reliable Fraser and a shoddy adaptation. It's made all the more disappointing because it has a premise that's genuinely exciting but one the filmmakers rarely seem to cherish.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
1.22.09