Movie review: Phoebe in Wonderland

by John P. Meyer

If nothing else, Phoebe in Wonderland is an outstanding vehicle for allowing Elle Fanning to demonstrate her acting chops - which prove to be prodigious ones. The fact that it's also a thoughtful offbeat family story in which Patricia Clarkson gets to deliver her most memorable role in years is to be considered icing on the movie cake.

Phoebe (Ms. Fanning) is a precocious youngster with a vivid imagination whose mother (Felicity Huffman, as Hillary) literally wrote the book on Lewis Carroll's classic children's tale. The fact that the title of Hillary's volume includes the word "perversion" might serve as some sort of indicator that hers is not the standard sort of work on the Alice fable; it might also raise a red flag regarding the off-kilter family story about to be played out on screen.

Hillary's dad Peter (Bill Pullman) is also a writer, and we can't help thinking about another recent movie heroine whose parents both brandished the pen. Imagination might be genetic, the evidence would lead us to believe. (But then there's that whole nature vs. nurture argument to contend with.)

Phoebe is less than thrilled with the structured classroom environment which posits that "questions may be asked only during question-asking time," as one of her teachers states. (Phoebe's hand immediately goes up.) She is, in fact, in love with whimsy, and finds herself at odds with the rules of order that seem to govern interpersonal relations. When stressed or picked upon, she spontaneously spits, for instance - leading to all sorts of unanticipated meeting time for mom and dad in the principal's office.

There's a bright glimmer on Phoebe's dark horizon, though, in the form of an enigmatic new drama teacher named Miss Dodger (Ms. Clarkson). This mysterious (and, it must be said, a little bit creepy) woman makes a dramatic entry into Phoebe's English class by quoting directly from Alice without preamble or explanation - except to say that there's a signup sheet out in the hall for those wishing to try out for the forthcoming play.

The commitment involved with participating in the play carries a lot more weight with Phoebe than it does with the other kids in her school - she mulls it over for several days before committing her name to the page, perhaps because the story has such importance to her. Phoebe's fantasy life (which is a rich one) owes much to the characters - thanks to her mom's intimate associations with the tale.

When the tryouts begin, it's no surprise that most of the girls want the part of Alice - it is, after all, the lead role. Something about Phoebe's read-through convinces Miss Dodger that this is the girl for the part - and thus is struck a deeply-felt and momentous bond.

Also appreciative of the skewed perspective and non-traditional approach to teaching employed by Miss Dodger is a boy named Jamie (Ian Colletti), who decides he really wants to play the Queen of Hearts - and is willing to weather the storm of catcalls and snide remarks that come with this cross-gender territory. Jamie and Phoebe become confidantes, hanging out on the roof of the school building, where he shares with her his arcane ritualistic formulas for getting what one wants out of life. Leading to a good deal of trouble for her, as things turn out.

Phoebe, we learn, is OCD (that's "obsessive compulsive disorder," for those not up on the psychobabble shorthand). Her mom and dad consent to put her in counseling, but only after her behavior becomes hurtful to both herself and others. Hillary, in particular, is opposed to the kind of "medicate and move on" approach she fears a diagnosis of instability will lead to in her daughter's case, and may even be in denial over the extent of Phoebe's emotional problems. Stressed and afraid for his family, Peter lets slip a cruel pronouncement at the dinner table one evening that sends Phoebe to her room crying and Hillary out to the garden work off her anger.

Young Ms. Fanning's on stage vocal delivery, with its studied enunciation, is eerily reminiscent of Charlie Brown's (ref. his well-known Christmas opus). Her obvious puzzlement over the odd events occurring in her life seems to derive naturally from her character without being forced or contrived, and her occasional retreats into fantasy come off as thoroughly appropriate given the turmoil engulfing her reality.

As mentioned, Patricia Clarkson is delightfully mysterious as Miss Dodger, who seems to be heeding her own internal muse throughout the film. Felicity Huffman continues to impress with her chameleon-like command of powerful female characters (not the least impressive of which is that of Lynette Scavo on TV's Desperate Housewives). Her "I'm mad" monologue is the most memorable and affecting episode in the film. Bill Pullman here plays a more subdued and internalized individual than is his wont, and does so to good effect.

This is the first feature-length directing project for Daniel Barnz, who also wrote the screenplay. From the beginning, it's a film rich in visual wonders and spiced with flights of fancy impinging on the everyday. Barnz' next project (in production) is a movie version of the Alex Finn novel, Beastly.

As for Ms. Fanning: given her fairy tale Hollywood success story, Wonderland must seem a quite ordinary place.