☆☆☆½
Kids' movies stink. They're dull, lifeless, uninventive, uninspired things that pander to children, talking down to them and treating them like idiots. The House With a Clock in its Walls is not, thankfully, a kids' movie, though it has a child at its core and is filled with colorful magic. But it's a real movie, a full-fledged one that adults can see by themselves and enjoy tremendously, while children will experience the rare satisfaction of being entertained without condescension.
While many movies featuring children treat adults as something distant and neglectful or strange and mystical, The House with a Clock in its Walls presents adults who are just as unsure of themselves as any child. One of its best attributes is that it shows that adults are capable of supreme self-doubt and children are capable of supreme courage, which is a wonderful thing to see.
Maybe it's saying something about the state of our own world that a story like this couldn't possibly take place in the 21st Century. The House with a Clock in its Walls is set in 1955, that nostalgic moment in time when kids wore coonskin caps and button-down sweaters and when everything seemed hopeful, at least on the surface. (In this revisionist nostalgia, school hallways in middle America are filled with black and Asian kids, playing and laughing harmoniously.)
Ten-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro, terrifically engaging) comes to town after the death of his parents, and he's greeted by his kindly and eccentric uncle (Jack Black), who lives in a rambling old house filled with clocks that are strategically positioned to drown out the sound of one giant clock that is buried under or built within the house. Next-door neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) helps keep things ticking, and it's not long before Lewis suspects something is up with his weird uncle.
Uncle Jonathan comes clean about being a wizard, and it's here that the story both kicks in to gear and, oddly, the movie loses a bit of its oomph as it unveils a complicated plot about another wizard and his plans to destroy the world, which will happen when that gigantic clock somewhere in the house winds down. The more we learn about Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan), the wizard who used to live in the house, and how Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman fit into the history, the less interesting the movie gets.
Yet, it remains at all times supremely entertaining thanks to the work of its three leads, who have wonderful on-screen chemistry. Black and Blanchett bicker and argue in the way of couples whose love has moved way beyond lust and into real fondness, and Vaccaro brings emotional dimension to his role as a suddenly orphaned, socially awkward youngster who is eager to find his own voice.
There's a delightfully wicked sense of humor at the heart of this movie, which may prove to be too scary for some of the little kids -- which is nicely in keeping with the movie's general assumption that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for being; they can handle surprises and scares and jolts (and there are a few) if they're in service to a larger story that engages them, and The House with a Clock in its Walls is always engaging.
The director is a surprise: Eli Roth, who's better known for extreme, graphic, brutal horror movies like Hostel and Cabin Fever. With this film, Roth shows impressive flair behind the camera and restraint in his approach; there's some horror here, but it's all for fun. It's a stylish movie, and a great-looking one, but what's really surprising is how the film is suffused with unexpected qualities like kindness and patience.
It goes a little bonkers toward the end, but it also is filled with sweet and gentle grace notes, like a scene in which Mrs. Zimmerman and Uncle Jonathan argue with fierce passion, ending with a deeply moving revelation about the hard job of being a parent. It's also got some sweet and insightful things to say about being different, about the importance of not fitting in.
In many ways, The House with a Clock in its Walls recalls one of the best and most off-kilter family films ever made, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which also combines magic and enchantment with some sharp and cutting observations of the world and some tough but true lessons about life and its disappointments.
They're lessons kids need to learn, sometimes the hard way. The House with a Clock in its Walls is a lovingly crafted reminder that some of the lessons are still being taught to us when we're adults and old enough that we should probably know better, but all too often don't.
Viewed September 20, 2018 -- DGA Theater
1930
While many movies featuring children treat adults as something distant and neglectful or strange and mystical, The House with a Clock in its Walls presents adults who are just as unsure of themselves as any child. One of its best attributes is that it shows that adults are capable of supreme self-doubt and children are capable of supreme courage, which is a wonderful thing to see.
Maybe it's saying something about the state of our own world that a story like this couldn't possibly take place in the 21st Century. The House with a Clock in its Walls is set in 1955, that nostalgic moment in time when kids wore coonskin caps and button-down sweaters and when everything seemed hopeful, at least on the surface. (In this revisionist nostalgia, school hallways in middle America are filled with black and Asian kids, playing and laughing harmoniously.)
Ten-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro, terrifically engaging) comes to town after the death of his parents, and he's greeted by his kindly and eccentric uncle (Jack Black), who lives in a rambling old house filled with clocks that are strategically positioned to drown out the sound of one giant clock that is buried under or built within the house. Next-door neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) helps keep things ticking, and it's not long before Lewis suspects something is up with his weird uncle.
Uncle Jonathan comes clean about being a wizard, and it's here that the story both kicks in to gear and, oddly, the movie loses a bit of its oomph as it unveils a complicated plot about another wizard and his plans to destroy the world, which will happen when that gigantic clock somewhere in the house winds down. The more we learn about Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan), the wizard who used to live in the house, and how Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman fit into the history, the less interesting the movie gets.
Yet, it remains at all times supremely entertaining thanks to the work of its three leads, who have wonderful on-screen chemistry. Black and Blanchett bicker and argue in the way of couples whose love has moved way beyond lust and into real fondness, and Vaccaro brings emotional dimension to his role as a suddenly orphaned, socially awkward youngster who is eager to find his own voice.
There's a delightfully wicked sense of humor at the heart of this movie, which may prove to be too scary for some of the little kids -- which is nicely in keeping with the movie's general assumption that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for being; they can handle surprises and scares and jolts (and there are a few) if they're in service to a larger story that engages them, and The House with a Clock in its Walls is always engaging.
The director is a surprise: Eli Roth, who's better known for extreme, graphic, brutal horror movies like Hostel and Cabin Fever. With this film, Roth shows impressive flair behind the camera and restraint in his approach; there's some horror here, but it's all for fun. It's a stylish movie, and a great-looking one, but what's really surprising is how the film is suffused with unexpected qualities like kindness and patience.
It goes a little bonkers toward the end, but it also is filled with sweet and gentle grace notes, like a scene in which Mrs. Zimmerman and Uncle Jonathan argue with fierce passion, ending with a deeply moving revelation about the hard job of being a parent. It's also got some sweet and insightful things to say about being different, about the importance of not fitting in.
In many ways, The House with a Clock in its Walls recalls one of the best and most off-kilter family films ever made, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which also combines magic and enchantment with some sharp and cutting observations of the world and some tough but true lessons about life and its disappointments.
They're lessons kids need to learn, sometimes the hard way. The House with a Clock in its Walls is a lovingly crafted reminder that some of the lessons are still being taught to us when we're adults and old enough that we should probably know better, but all too often don't.
Viewed September 20, 2018 -- DGA Theater
1930
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