Sweet and engaging, 'Phoebe in Wonderland' is thoroughly moving. Elle Fanning provides some of the best child acting I've ever seen, showcasing an ability to evoke a deep empathy with a single look. The story can be a little slow at times, and some themes are underdeveloped (and therefore feel a little pointless), but the beauty of this film is that nothing is overstated, and that provides for a pretty genuine feel.
This isn't always that well written about troublesome themes, when modern parenthood and childhood aren't problemfree glossiness, but the better parts are very good.
That the female trio delivers with their performances isn't a surprise; especially ElleF is fantastic and stays far away from usual child-actor traps of being annoyingly overacting or being overly mature and let that shine through when it shouldn't. *Preview*: #12#, story, reviews, actresses.
I felt pretty unsure about this film at first. It's rather whimsical and it felt pretty fake and forced at the beginning. Once we got to know Elle Fanning’s character, Phoebe, better, I liked it a lot more. Fanning is a really great little actress, much like Dakota. Patricia Clarkson was also really good, as usual, though her character wasn’t very fleshed out. Anyway, it’s a nice little film with some genuinely fun and emotional moments. Not perfect by any means, but an enjoyable watch.
Its fancifulness is at times too clunky, its pathos too strained. But Barnz has a secret weapon, one that's 4 feet tall and looks to weigh about 60 pounds: Elle Fanning.