AMB Reviews

Phoebe In Wonderland: 8.5/10 Stars

Release Date: March 6, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated PG-13 for thematic material and brief strong language. One f-word. The movie revolves around a small girl with OCD and Tourette's Syndrome.

Review:

Dakota Fanning has always been on my radar for actresses to watch in the near future. Now, I must add her younger sister Elle to that list.

In Short:

"Phoebe In Wonderland" revolves around a 9-year-old girl named Phoebe, who has always been different from the norm. It's clear that she has some sort of OCD, but she also has a hard time controlling what she says and does. This makes her an outsider from the clan, until she's cast as the lead role in the school play, "Alice In Wonderland." And just maybe, her new drama teacher can help her open up to the rest of the world. The plot is compelling, and Elle Fanning gives the best child performance I've seen since Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense."

In Full:

Phoebe is an oddball. At 9 years old, she has a strange knack for completing clapping rituals and repeating things that people say. She can't help it. This puts her in a situation without many friends and two parents who don't know what to do with her. But when she is cast as the lead role in the school's production of "Alice In Wonderland," she begins to see things in a different light, as her drama teacher helps her overcome adversity. Though at times weird, this film is very touching and magical, and ends on a positive note that is sure to warm you up inside. The pacing is perfect and the whole film just seems to glow.

Elle Fanning has long been cast as smaller roles in various films. In fact, before this movie, I hadn't even heard of her. Here, however, she takes the main stage (literally) and lights up the screen with her luminous and truly astounding performance, especially considering her young age. Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson and Bill Pullman join the supporting cast with smaller yet very powerful performances as well.

This film is clearly a lower budget production, and at several points throughout, that's easy to see. There are several scenes where the camera work felt shaky and not at all professional, while other scenes made it feel like you were watching a $30 million dollar budget film. Like a light switch, you never really could tell what the next scene was going to bring. Sometimes the camera work was sloppy while other times it was pitch perfect. Sometimes the visuals were low-key, while other times, the exact opposite. Though it didn't keep me from enjoying the film all the same, I still would've preferred that the director choose to keep the lights either on or off.

As mentioned above, this film did have the occasional tendency to become weird. Though I was expecting something a little bit out there, the several scenes in which Phoebe imagines she's in Wonderland were very... odd, shall I say. They were necessary to the plot, but with the low budget this film was given, it wasn't easy to pull it off. In the end, they really only pulled it off halfway. However, that's only in a couple of scenes, and I enjoyed the rest of the film immensely.

"Phoebe In Wonderland" tackles some serious issues. Though the one f-word was unnecessary to the script, I was actually sort of happy that it was in there, so as the film would render a PG-13 rating. The mature thematic elements found in this film are not for the faint of heart, and I even found myself tearing up in one scene. It's a very touching drama, and although it isn't perfect (mainly because of the low budget), it's still realistic, dramatic, and severely unique. The plot is original, the pacing flows like the Mississippi itself, and the acting is truly marvelous. "Phoebe In Wonderland" is for mature teens and adults, and for those willing to watch it... give it a shot. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.