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Starring
the voice talents of
Dakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Robert Bailey, Jr.
Directed by
Henry Selick
Final Grade:
A-Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language, and suggestive humor
a review by Heith Carnahan
The Rundown
Eleven-year-old Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) is everything we'd expect a precocious onscreen heroine of her age to be: adventurous, headstrong, brave, and above all, curious. She and her family have relocated to Oregon and moved into a strange old house that's well over a century old, and she's taking her time getting acclimated to the new house and the eccentric neighbors.
Before long, Coraline finds a secret door hidden behind the wallpaper in one of the family rooms, and on the other side lies an alternate version of her world -- an enchanted version in which objects and animals talk and play, the house is decorated more cheerfully, and her parents (known as the Other Mother and Other Father) are always chipper and playful. It seems like the perfect life.
But before long, this wonderfully off-center world takes a dangerous turn. Her welcoming Other Mother reveals a plan to keep her there permanently, and Coraline must find a way to get back to her real life and save her family in the process.
Careful what you wish for
Let's begin here: Coraline succeeds on every level. The artistry and animation are astounding, creepy though it may occasionally be, what with Other Mother and Other Father having buttons sewn into their eye sockets; it's an unnecessary tool for distinguishing the two worlds but one that brings an additional human disconnect to the table. The story is relatively straightforward on one level, but scratch the surface, and it's a dark and almost nightmarish trip into the realm of Be Careful What You Wish For... as the trailer suggested.
In that same vein, it's probably a bad idea to take anyone to see Coraline who isn't either at least ten years old or named Wednesday Addams. The film starts off in relatively harmless fashion, the story of a girl who is bored out of her mind in a new home she didn't want to move to. And really the only reason Coraline doesn't earn a straight A (or better) is because the script does take its time getting off the ground; there are a handful of peripheral characters Coraline must meet, not all of whom seem essential to the plot. And the scary doesn't get going right off the bat. Things are odd in this new home of theirs, but once the ball really gets rolling and Coraline gets a better look at what the Otherworld is really made of, you will understand why this is not a movie for young kids.
Some of the best aspects of the film are the most abstract; environments that crack and crumble under the weight of Coraline's discoveries, the spirits of children whom the Other Mother successfully trapped in the Otherworld, and the true, elemental nature of the taxidermic inhabitants of the alternate reality Coraline is at first so enamored with. As difficult as it is to explain and review, Coraline is an all-out success despite -- nay, because of -- its underlying eccentricities.
The Bottom Line
Coraline may be the best thing playing right now. I will own the DVD the day it's released, and it has already become an early nominee for my favorite movie of 2009.
-- Heith Carnahan, heith @ movie-popcorn.com