The Greatest Trick

Terry Gilliam once said of Time Bandits that he wanted a film that was intelligent enough for children and exciting enough for adults. I took my four year old son to see Inkheart, and whilst I found it a little talky and light on action, he was riveted. Now I understand what Gilliam meant. Inkheart is not good as Time Bandits, but it’s a good solid children’s fantasy film; exciting, unpatronising and properly scary. I wouldn’t recommend it for most four year olds (my son has Dillon DNA, so his ability to enjoy the frightening scenes is probably not typical for children his age), but older children and adults will find much to entertain them.

Based on a novel by Cornelia Funke which I’ve not read, Inkheart tells of Mo Folchart and his twelve year old daughter Meggie. Mo lost his wife in mysterious circumstances when Meggie was a baby, and has not told Meggie what happened. They spend their time travelling the world searching old bookshops for a rare book called Inkheart. The eponymous novel holds the key to finding Mo’s wife, and when they happen upon a copy in the first few minutes of the film, it is revealed that Mo is a Silvertongue – someone who can bring characters and events from stories into our world when they read aloud.

In the film at least, the Silvertongue concept is good, but not as well thought out as it could have been. The plot is also a little predictable and as mentioned previously, I would have liked more outrageous action sequences. That said, what action there is works well, including an exciting twister sequence that has been read out of The Wizard of Oz. Iain Softley is quite an underrated director, and he lends the film a modicum of style.

Cast wise, Brendan Fraser is appealing as Mo, though not quite as entertaining as he is in films like The Mummy. Eliza Bennett is better as Meggie, and there are a smattering of enjoyable eccentric supporting roles from the likes of Helen Mirren, Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent and Andy Serkis.

It all builds to an enjoyable messy finale involving a huge Balrog type monster, where most of the plot threads are clumsily resolved. For all its faults, Inkheart is an entertaining and somewhat underrated film, destined no doubt to find a bigger audience on television.

Simon Dillon, December 2008.