CHARLOTTE'S WEB

WILBUR
“Hey you wanna play?”
TEMPLETON
[The rat blinks incredulously] “For so many reasons . . . no. See I don’t play. I gnaw, I spy, I eat,
I hide. Me in a nutshell.”
WILBUR
“Couldn’t you just stay and chat?”
TEMPLETON
“Chat? Gnaw, spy, eat, hide. Nope. Chat ain’t on the list.”
Charlotte’s Web (2006)

CHARLOTTE’S WEB, the Walden Media/Nickelodeon big screen adaptation of the most beloved of children’s stories, is a beautifully rendered movie that is sure to appeal to even the most cynical of literary critics and children alike. With the verdant rolling hills of Victoria, Australia doubling for Somerset County Maine, the movie boasts a timeless idyllic quality. Clothing, cars are of a mid-century vintage and the screenplay is thankfully devoid of references to pop culture. With the exception of the obligatory flatulent cows and a “Horse’s derriere,” joke, CW is a very warm and family friendly film and for the most part remains faithful to the 1952 novel by E. B. White. I read somewhere that Gary Winick’s (13 Going On 30) mantra all during filming was: “Don’t screw it up.” I think Gary largely succeeded.

     Templeton RULES! The two crows Brooks and Elwyn voiced by Thomas Hayden Church and André Benjamin unexpectedly steal the show as a pair of quarrelsome black-birds. I was apprehensive about the inclusion of these characters since they do not appear in the book. However, the business with the scarecrow in the cornfield was funny. I thought the watercolors in the beginning and end credits evoked some of the charm of original illustrator Garth Williams. The voice work for the most part was first rate; standouts include the narcissistic Templeton the Rat voiced to perfection by Steve Buscemi. John Cleese as the acerbic sheep Samuel, and Sam Sheppard’s narration strikes exactly the right tone. Unfortunately, Julia Roberts in the pivotal role of Charlotte is miscast. Robert’s voice work fell flat and lacked that intangible indefinable quality of wisdom, faithfulness, and a selfless love that we all know Charlotte must posses. I will admit that the CG generated close ups of Charlotte were unnerving at first, but you get used to them. They made her all fuzzy, and gave her big expressive “alien” eyes and anthropomphized her mouthparts so they were not too disgusting.

     Then of course, there was Dakota . . . after a fourteen month absents from the big screen, Dakota returns once again to entertain us at the movies. Dakota’s Fern is a headstrong tomboy who loves animals and has a compassionate heart and an innate sense of justice. Her best scenes are in the opening act, but the screenwriter and director gave her something to do throughout. Her performance was endearing. The “shhhing” of Wilbur while he was hiding in the school desk was positively, maternal. The subtle sub-plot of Fern’s transformation from a rough-and-tumble denim-clad farm girl to a fresh-faced lemon dressed young lady smitten with puppy-love was not too much of a diversion from White’s original story and it did provide Fanning with a few extra sceens. It was funny, hard, and odd to watch Dakota, having seen her virtually continuously these past few days walking the red carpet and making the rounds of the talk-show circuit. CW was filmed almost a year and a half ago, Dakota has grown up so much since then. It’s hard to let go. To watch them grow up, watching CW for me was a bittersweet experience knowing that I was watching Dakota’s last performance as a child.

     I was very glad that the proposed epilogue was cut from the film. There was supposed to be a scene filmed with Elle Fanning as Fern’s granddaughter and an 80-year-old Fern and her childhood sweetheart husband Henry, (still wearing his green fishing hat), re-telling the story of Wilbur and Charlotte. Instead, the movie ends, as does the book. (I always say you can’t re-write Dickens or White for that matter). “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer, Charlotte was both.”

NO DOG HOUSE FOR DAKOTA

THE CONTROVERSY swirling around Dakota Fanning’s next film is finally set to be settled. Officially called “Untitled Dakota Fanning Project” but known ubiquitously as Hounddog, the film written and directored by Deborah Kampmeier HD will premier at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

“I’m supposed to say Untitled, but it’s basically Hounddog,” Fanning said, the movie stars the preternaturally mature 12-year-old undisputed Hollywood “IT” girl as a child who is raped and ultimately finds solace in the music of Elvis. “She overcomes all the hard things in her life through Elvis and through the blues and Big Mama Thornton, who was the first one to record Hound Dog,” Fanning said.

The controversy comes because of claims that the rape scene is too graphic for the participation of a 12-year-old, and there’s additional outrage about reports of other scenes where Fanning is cavorting about in her underwear. Fanning said that the brouhaha was actually a bunch of hooey.

“It was gossip, a rumor, like a lot of things about people are. It’s really a beautiful story and I really hope that a lot of people get to see it and I hope that a lot of people learn from it. I had a lot of fun doing it. It’s really no different than playing any other character―I’m still not playing myself. I get to experience different things people go through without going through them myself, which is no different from watching a news story and learning from that. It’s an emotionally moving movie, and I hope people enjoy it.” What seemed to really get under her skin was the idea that she’s some kind of shrinking violet when it comes to movies with rough elements.

“It’s no darker than Hide and Seek or Man on Fire. I still am going through difficult things in those films as well, and nobody seemed to talk about that!”

Going from the pig-tailed Fern in the family friendly Charlotte’s Web to a movie featuring child rape seems like a whiplash-inducing change of pace, but Fanning insists she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I don’t want to be boring by just doing funny films that children can see. I think it’s important to have a mix of all different kinds [of movies].”

HOUND DAWG

“HOUNDDOG” is the Dakota movie that I am most looking forward too. A great deal has already been written, speculated, postulated, sensationalized, and otherwise subjected to just plain rumormongering and conjecture, having to do with the rape scene. I prefer not to focus on that subject. The rape scene is probably no more than a minute out of what is presumably the greater whole of a 100 + minute film.

HD is a small independent film, Dakota and her agent signed on to do this film knowing that it was not a splashy Hollywood production. There is no huge publicity machine behind this movie, no dinosaur tracks painted in the driveway leading to the cinema, remember JURASSIC PARK? No toy or Burger King ® drink cups, no backpacks, lunch boxes, or whirlwind, Tokyo, London, New York premiers, HD represents an insignificant speck on the radar of Hollywood.

I suspect there wasn’t even that much money involved. It’s doubtful that Dakota received anywhere near her usual three million dollar salary for appearing in this movie. Often times actors agree to appear in independent films for scale . . . so why did Osbrink sign Dakota to this movie? I believe HD represents a great script, an opportunity for Dakota to work with an exciting young director (Deborah Kampmeier), to spread her wings, strut her stuff, and for the first time in her career to top line a movie. Come on, how cool is it going to be to sit in the darkened movie theatre and watch the credits roll, HOUNDDOG . . . Dakota Fanning.
A real sore spot for me is that Dakota was so good in I AM SAM, and TAKEN. Please don’t mistake me for a heretic, but the hard truth is she really hasn’t had a part since that equaled those two performances. Dakota often finds herself in the unenviable position of being better than the material she appears in.

I believe that HOUNDDOG represents Dakota’s first and best chance to re-establish her credentials as the best child actress working today. The best part of all, Dakota sings! The whole music angle of the movie is woefully neglected. My absolute favorite clip of Dakota is when she sings with the Muppets on the QUEEN MARY. What a delightful performance, while Charlotte Church is in no danger of being eclipsed anytime soon by Dakota’s singing talent, if you watch Dak’s Muppet performance, Dakota really can sing. More than that, she possesses this intangible charisma her stage presence is undeniable.

Am I excited about HOUNDDOG? Yes I am. Will Dakota win an award? No one can say for sure. If the movie is well received by the jury at SUNDANCE, the best possible scenario is that a major studio takes notice and picks-up the film for distribution. From there, HOUNDDOG will be in position to follow the success path of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. HOUNDDOG could go from a mere blip on the Hollywood radar to the big dawg in the neighborhood overnight. Let’s hope so.

"HOUNDDOG" to Premier at Sundance

PARK CITY, UT.―Programmers for the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL looked at almost 3000 submissions before coming up with 64 films that will screen in competition Jan. 18-28th in Park City, Sundance, Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah. Among the 16 films in the dramatic category are “The Pool” from director Chris Smith, whose "American Movie" won the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary in 1999; “Broken English” from director Zoe Cassavetes; and an untitled film directed and written by Deborah Kampmeier. (“HOUNDDOG”) is a Southern Gothic tale set in 1961 Alabama about a troubled girl who finds solace in blues music. Starring Dakota Fanning along with Robin Wright Penn, and David Morse; among the 16 documentaries are Rory Kennedy’s “Ghost of Abu Ghaib” and “Protagonist” by 1996 Oscar winner Jessica Yu.