Kenneth Grahame's enduring children's classic meets Monty Python in Terry Jones' energetic and whimsically eccentric version of "The Wind in the Willows".
While things get a tad murky and chaotic toward the end, terrific characterizations -- Jones recruited former Flying Circus mates Eric Idle, John Cleese and Michael Palin to do their colorful stuff -- help keep things light and amusing.
Entering an indifferent family feature market after spending a prolonged period on the shelf, it's not likely the Columbia release will generate a flurry of moviegoing activity, but it could do some breezy business once it blows into video stores.
Jones cleverly eschews animations and the Jim Henson's Creature Shop route in favor of good old-fashioned human beings with minimal animal accouterments to convey the intriguing inhabitants of Grahame's English countryside.
There's the ever-squinting Mole (Steve Coogan), whose subterranean home has been destroyed by those nasty Weasels. Accompanied by good friend Rat (Idle) and the crusty but wise old Badger (Nicol Williamson), Mole pays a visit to the flamboyant, motor car-obsessed Mr. Toad (Jones), who has been scammed out of the stately Toad Hall by the diabolical Chief Weasel (Anthony Sher).
Mole, Rat and company race to stop the slippery characters in their plot to level their idyllic terrain and transform it into a heavily industrialized, Weasels-Only zone.
Given the novel's original turn-of-the-century publication, there are all sorts of sociopolitical interpretations to be made here, but Jones, aside from referring to the Weasels as "Thatcher's children" in the press notes, steers clear of heavy-handedness.
Instead, he presents a classic good vs. evil scenario that is spiced up by a few goofy song-and-dance numbers and a whole slew of seasoned performances. In addition to entertaining turns by Jones, Idle, Williamson and Sher, Cleese is on hand as Mr. Toad's not-so-helpful Lawyer. Palin rises to the occasion as the Sun.
Although things begin to run out of steam during a prolonged railroad sequence, there's plenty to appreciate. Doing double duty, production and costume designer James Acheson dresses the characters in a British music hall assortment of stripes, checks and plaids, while the architecture is reminiscent of fellow Python member Terry Gilliam's Rube Goldberg-style animation.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
Allied Filmmakers presents
A John Goldstone production
Director-screenwriter: Terry Jones
From the novel "The Wind in the Willows":
by Kenneth Grahame
Producers: John Goldstone & Jake Eberts
Director of photography: David Tattersall
Production and costume designer:
James Acheson
Editor: Julian Doyle
Music score: John Du Prez
Original music and songs: John Du Prez,
Terry Jones, Andre Jacquemin,
Dave Howman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Mole: Steve Coogan
Rat: Eric Idle
Toad: Terry Jones
Chief Weasel: Anthony Sher
Badger: Nicol Williamson
Mr. Toad's Lawyer: John Cleese
Judge: Stephen Fry
The Sun: Michael Palin
Running time -- 87 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
While things get a tad murky and chaotic toward the end, terrific characterizations -- Jones recruited former Flying Circus mates Eric Idle, John Cleese and Michael Palin to do their colorful stuff -- help keep things light and amusing.
Entering an indifferent family feature market after spending a prolonged period on the shelf, it's not likely the Columbia release will generate a flurry of moviegoing activity, but it could do some breezy business once it blows into video stores.
Jones cleverly eschews animations and the Jim Henson's Creature Shop route in favor of good old-fashioned human beings with minimal animal accouterments to convey the intriguing inhabitants of Grahame's English countryside.
There's the ever-squinting Mole (Steve Coogan), whose subterranean home has been destroyed by those nasty Weasels. Accompanied by good friend Rat (Idle) and the crusty but wise old Badger (Nicol Williamson), Mole pays a visit to the flamboyant, motor car-obsessed Mr. Toad (Jones), who has been scammed out of the stately Toad Hall by the diabolical Chief Weasel (Anthony Sher).
Mole, Rat and company race to stop the slippery characters in their plot to level their idyllic terrain and transform it into a heavily industrialized, Weasels-Only zone.
Given the novel's original turn-of-the-century publication, there are all sorts of sociopolitical interpretations to be made here, but Jones, aside from referring to the Weasels as "Thatcher's children" in the press notes, steers clear of heavy-handedness.
Instead, he presents a classic good vs. evil scenario that is spiced up by a few goofy song-and-dance numbers and a whole slew of seasoned performances. In addition to entertaining turns by Jones, Idle, Williamson and Sher, Cleese is on hand as Mr. Toad's not-so-helpful Lawyer. Palin rises to the occasion as the Sun.
Although things begin to run out of steam during a prolonged railroad sequence, there's plenty to appreciate. Doing double duty, production and costume designer James Acheson dresses the characters in a British music hall assortment of stripes, checks and plaids, while the architecture is reminiscent of fellow Python member Terry Gilliam's Rube Goldberg-style animation.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
Allied Filmmakers presents
A John Goldstone production
Director-screenwriter: Terry Jones
From the novel "The Wind in the Willows":
by Kenneth Grahame
Producers: John Goldstone & Jake Eberts
Director of photography: David Tattersall
Production and costume designer:
James Acheson
Editor: Julian Doyle
Music score: John Du Prez
Original music and songs: John Du Prez,
Terry Jones, Andre Jacquemin,
Dave Howman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Mole: Steve Coogan
Rat: Eric Idle
Toad: Terry Jones
Chief Weasel: Anthony Sher
Badger: Nicol Williamson
Mr. Toad's Lawyer: John Cleese
Judge: Stephen Fry
The Sun: Michael Palin
Running time -- 87 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 10/31/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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