A strange mix of doco/fairy tale, this film does have beautiful cinematography but is let down by inconsistencies in tone.
Comment
07/07/09
The Fox and the Child (2008)
50
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:13
Rotten:13
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: Jackanory-esque voiceover from Winslet lends a syrupy tone to this mawkish and slow, but beautifully shot, human/beastie buddy movie.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jun 20, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS director Luc Jaquet makes his narrative debut with this family-friendly film. Inspired by Jaquet's childhood, THE FOX & THE CHILD centers on a young girl who discovers the... [More]
Director: Luc Jacquet
Reviews for The Fox and the Child
Top CriticIt's very beautiful, but it's so contrived.
07/08/09
Top CriticThe Fox and the Child is more than a wildlife documentary. It invites us to contemplate alternative worlds of sensation and experience, to enter the consciousness of other species, to explore our contacts with them.
07/17/09
Top CriticExquisite cinematography and a beautifully told story about the unlikely friendship between a little girl and a wild fox, make this a magical experience
07/04/09
Top CriticLuc Jacquet doesn’t do great narration, but he does animals really well.
07/08/09
Top CriticThe result is Nature seen through the eyes of a solitary and fanciful child with Jacquet intensifying the theatricality of it all by playing around with scale, amplifying every sound and raising the wildlife count.
07/17/09
Top CriticThe main problem is it’s so incredibly slow as we’re forced to endure the unnamed girl’s patient attempts to gain the animal’s trust, while the youngster herself is too wide-eyed for her own good.
08/08/08
There is little insight into the life of this resourceful creature and it certainly will not educate your cubs.
08/08/08
The term 'gentle' is too harsh a word to describe the pace of this tale which is so slow in places it's a wonder moss isn't growing on it.
07/26/08
Kate Winslet does a syrupy voice-over to this bedtime story, but given what we know of foxes, it's a tough one to swallow.
08/08/08
This isn't Fantastic Mr Fox, it's just an ordinary vixen who I wished would stay well away from this tiresome child, and let her make some friends with someone of her own age and species.
08/08/08
Despite some lovely scenes of foxes doing their thing, the whole affair is ruined by the interfering and rather annoying humans.
08/08/08
Top CriticAll the while Winslet bangs away remorselessly, trying to pull the narrative into focus but pushing the viewer farther from it with each cack-handed observation.
08/08/08
Top CriticIf, for example, Alvin and the Chipmunks is a children's movie, then The Fox and the Child is a children's movie for children who'd prefer to hang out at the local arthouse cinema than at the multiplex.
06/01/09
There seems no other reason to tell this rambling, glutinous tale – other than for us to go “ooh, aah” at the scenery, the seasons and the melting-eyed close-ups of Reynard the heart-throb.
08/08/08
The twee, simpering voiceover is annoying, and what dialogue there is has been badly dubbed.
08/08/08
Top CriticGorgeously scenery and a virtually dialog-free script lends this film an almost fairy tale quality that makes the most of the astonishing camerawork. And this almost makes it bearable as it heads into a rather cloying finale.
08/08/08
A cute bedtime story that features spectacular photography and unaffected performances from both protagonists.
01/14/08
A film that looks sumptuous, presents viewers with a splendid array of European beasties, but veers off into some strange contrivances.
08/08/08
Jacquet’s golden-hued cautionary tale is beautiful to look at. It’s also accurate in the way the time frame of friendship unfolds, and is spot on in illustrating our tendency to anthropomorphise cute animals.
08/08/08
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