How much of a movie should one see before passing judgment on it? I took my 12-year-old daughter to see this one this afternoon. Twenty minutes in, she started whining "Da-a-a-a-a-a-d, this su-u-u-u-cks!" While I did disapprove of her choice of words, I had to agree with her assessment. We gave it another 15 minutes before going back to the cashier and asking for a refund.
Considering the talent being used (Jodie Foster and young Abigail Breslin, whose performances I have found winning in the past) I was surprised at the ridiculous presentation of the film. Every scene played out like a dream sequence from some better-done movie, coming off completely contrived and hollow. It was painful to see an actress like Jodie Foster reduced to such rubbish; I can't help but think that has the capacity to have turned in more a believable performance had she wanted to, but frankly this was not deserving of her best work.
Perhaps we missed something special in the 55 minutes we skipped, but there was certainly no sign of it on the horizon when we left. Children of 6 years or so may be entranced, but there are better children's films out there; why waste their time (and ruin their developing taste) with junk that no one even tried to make good?
Considering the talent being used (Jodie Foster and young Abigail Breslin, whose performances I have found winning in the past) I was surprised at the ridiculous presentation of the film. Every scene played out like a dream sequence from some better-done movie, coming off completely contrived and hollow. It was painful to see an actress like Jodie Foster reduced to such rubbish; I can't help but think that has the capacity to have turned in more a believable performance had she wanted to, but frankly this was not deserving of her best work.
Perhaps we missed something special in the 55 minutes we skipped, but there was certainly no sign of it on the horizon when we left. Children of 6 years or so may be entranced, but there are better children's films out there; why waste their time (and ruin their developing taste) with junk that no one even tried to make good?