[three-star-rating]Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Rafe Spall, Rebecca Hall, voice of Mark Rylance[/three-star-rating]
Gently folded into this sweet, slow movie are some beautiful images and a single memorable character. No one else here charms like the Big Friendly Giant (the BFG of the title, perfectly voiced by Rylance). Rylance even brings his creature to life when the computer animation around him looks clumsy.
“Human beans is not really believing in giants, is they?” say the BFG in his confused, broken English. “Human beans is not thinking we exist.”
The BFG is one of Roald Dahl’s lesser children’s books – not nearly as popular as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Witches, or Fantastic Mr. Fox. Yet, Dahl’s musings about a misfit, kind giant – and Quentin Blake’s accompanying illustrations – are cute.
Disney lured the legendary Steven Spielberg away from DreamWorks to make this film version (a second one, along with 1989’s cruddy animated flick). Spielberg brings much of his warmth to the tale. He also tries to combine live action and animation, to less success. It’s so clear throughout what is real and what is computer generated.
The best thing Spielberg does here is cast Rylance – who won an Oscar in Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.
The BFG is an odd giant, a runt among the other nine. They all live on a lost island north of England, but they don’t always stay there. The other nine leave to snatch children in the middle of the night and eat them. The BFG harvests dreams and then seeds the good ones into the sleeping humans of our world.
This is where the film’s allure is clear. The light at night in London is deliciously hazy; the BFG has such great ways of hiding himself in plain sight. His run from the nation’s capital, through the landscapes of the U.K., and back to his island is breathtaking. His secret lair – full of bottled dreams – is enticing.
He himself doesn’t quite look real – a problem of the animation. But he’s delightful, speaking in his cobbled and confused English.
“Words,” he says, “is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life.”
When a young girl (Barnhill) spots him, the BFG has to kidnap her to keep his existence a secret.
Too bad this little girl is dull as dishwater. There’s really no development to her as a person, so we don’t really care if the giants eat her or not. The same sweet, kind boredom permeates everyone else in this film – including the other mean giants, the Queen of England (Wilton), and her court. The languid pace of the overall story doesn’t help; this is a nearly two-hour children’s film.
[rating-key]
Besides Rylance’s clumsily illustrated but cuddly personality, only the film’s visuals and John Williams’ score hold our interest most of the time. Toward the end – when the BFG meets the Queen – there is finally some real comedy and joy. Then the film settles back into its previous mediocrity.
It’s all so cozy and darling. However, for a film with a giant at its center, The BFG should’ve made more of an impression.
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