Phoebe In Wonderland
Dir: Daniel Barnz
Rating: 4.0
THINKfilm
96 Minutes
Like a multi-layered pastry, first-time writer/director Daniel Barnz offers a film with much to savor. From the opening scenes as the rotating camera presents an illusion of delightful chaos of whirling figures, forms and phantasmagoria, we begin a journey that is at one moment fantasy and the next a sober reality. The colorful collection of these Alice In Wonderland characters is a birthday present to wide-eyed, nine-year old Phoebe (Elle Fanning, Dakota’s younger sister), the very bright, eldest daughter in a loving family that (like most) has issues. Phoebe’s mother (Felicity Huffman) is highly supportive of creative thinking and is trying to complete her doctoral dissertation on Alice In Wonderland, while her father (Bill Pullman) is consumed with finalizing the publishing of his book.
Barnz does an excellent job at exploring childhood social alienation. At first blush, Phoebe seems to be suffering from the mean-spirited dispensations of her classmates. Like any bright child, Phoebe challenges school rules, but then also spits at the kids who tease her, mimics irrational teacher directives, yells out hateful remarks and demonstrates obsessive compulsive rituals. Barnz superbly amplifies our perceptions of Phoebe’s defensive behavior by exaggerating the mannerisms of the teachers and principal, who seem comedic, ridiculous and strangely magical.
On the magical side, a new drama teacher, Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), pops into the classroom, and commands the children to “attend the tea party,” a mysterious invitation to sign up for the Alice In Wonderland play. Phoebe is immediately taken with Miss Dodger and via her obsessive/compulsive rituals debates signing up for the play before she succumbs and then is ultimately cast as Alice.
See, Phoebe is drawn to the Alice story, in part because it represents an opportunity to become closer to her mother and partly because the Lewis Carroll tale is ideal escapism. Her plight is one of trying to understand her behavior and to be accepted, but her parents simultaneously wrestle their own issues. Her mother believes all of Phoebe’s foibles are nothing to worry about and similar to rituals that she, too, performed as a child. But after she notices that Phoebe washes her hands raw and counts and recounts steps, she takes Phoebe to a therapist. Phoebe’s father, meanwhile, stands aside and observes these activities with wringing-hands inaction.
But once Phoebe understands the reason for her outbursts and why she is different from others, will she be more comfortable in her skin? The rich and magical content of Phoebe In Wonderland is complemented by the depth of characters and supported by convincing performances. We whirl with the same motion of confusion that Phoebe lives with every day. This film offers an intelligent perspective of the difficulties presented by abnormal behavior without making everyone superhuman or overly vulnerable, a tough subject balanced by tragedy, comedy, magic and a tidbit of fantasy.
by Jane Hruska
