Product Description

This heartfelt, fantastical story of a troubled, imaginative girl (Elle Fanning, The Door in the Floor) devoted to Alice in Wonderland explores the agonies of growing up as an outsider and the complexities of parenting. Oscar nominee* Felicity Huffman (Transamerica, TV's Desperate Housewives) gives one of the most powerful performances of her career as Phoebe's guilt-ridden mother. She and her perplexed husband (Bill Pullman, Independence Day) initially see Phoebe's unusual behavior as signs of creativity, but with the help of an unconventional drama teacher (Oscar nominee** Patricia Clarkson, Lars and the Real Girl), they soon realize that their daughter is in danger of falling "through the looking glass."

*Best Actress: Transamerica, 2005 **Best Supporting Actress: Pieces of April, 2003

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11567 in DVD
• Brand: IMAGE ENT.
• Released on: 2009-06-23
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Features

• This heartfelt, fantastical story of a troubled, imaginative girl (Elle Fanning, The Door in the Floor) devoted to Alice in Wonderland explores the agonies of growing up as an outsider and the complexities of parenting. Oscar nominee* Felicity Huffman (Transamerica, TV's Desperate Housewives) gives one of the most powerful performances of her career as Phoebe's guilt-ridden mother. She and

Amazon.com
Daniel Barnz’s directorial debut, Phoebe in Wonderland, is an important film in regards to teaching children not to fear psychological challenges. Of course, this is also the key effort in about half of all children’s films. But what sets Phoebe in Wonderland apart from other more saccharine examples is the accurate portrayal of protagonist Phoebe’s onset of Tourette’s syndrome, and the fantasy scenes that hedge her tragic reality against an Alice in Wonderland escapism. Phoebe in Wonderland is a family drama about Phoebe Lichten (Elle Fanning), who lives with two author-parents, Hillary (Felicity Huffman) and Peter (Bill Pullman), who encourage her imagination. Phoebe yearns to participate in the school’s Alice in Wonderland performance, headed by the mysteriously alluring drama teacher, Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), who also champions Phoebe’s strange digressions. The film traces Phoebe’s imagination as it becomes increasingly obsessive, and the viewer is privy to both Phoebe’s internalized interpretation of what is happening to her and her behaviors from an exterior perspective. This is smart, and makes for some interesting scenes, such as when Phoebe sits in the principal’s office being reprimanded, hearing both his comments and those from Wonderland, warning her about the future. Another layer of story enriches the symbolic significance of Wonderland, when one learns that Phoebe’s mother is writing a novel inspired by Carroll’s. From here, the mother-daughter evolves in complex ways, and the mother’s defense of her child is an integral part of the narrative. Like Juno, Phoebe is a bright, witty girl whose eccentricities make the movie a charmer. Though there is an unfortunately facile ending attached to Phoebe in Wonderland, it feels tacked on to a movie that provides wonderful insight into cultivating children’s tolerance of atypical behaviors, which is much needed. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly Awesome
Wow. I put this on at 2 am thinking it was a kids movie that I could watch as I drifted to sleep. I was very wrong. Instead, it's a complex, deep, insightful masterpiece that made me cry two or three times.

Don't be fooled by the cover. This is not a movie for children. The story focuses on a free-willed family with writer/scholar parents, and very bright young daughters. The lightheartedness slowly gives way to a deep heartfelt story of a young girl developing OCD and Tourettes while just trying to keep her lead in the school play of Alice in Wonderland. Her drama teacher, played by Patricia Clarkson, is a quiet, Nanny McPhee-type who is able to connect to Phoebe a little bit better than everyone else. I almost got annoyed with that, since it is rather cliche, but it's really Phoebe's mom (the brilliant Felicity Huffman) who connects with Phoebe the most. You'll laugh one moment and cry the next as you take this journey with such an endearing and interesting family. Phoebe befriends a young boy named Jamie who has a lot more theater experience than she does, and wants nothing more than to play not the White Knight, nor the King of Hearts, but rather the Queen of Hearts. This decision leads the other children to call him "homo" and "faggot", which results in the usually wisely reserved Miss Dodger (Clarkson) showing the only anger she shows in the film when she confronts them and challenges their mimicry. Maybe I am mistaken...maybe some older children should be exposed to this film. Not only will they learn how to imagine, but they will also learn how to tolerate differences, and to love a person for who he or she is, despite wanting to go against gender roles and play the Queen of Hearts, or having to wash her hands a certain number of times.

If I am not mistaken, this is Elle Fannings first lead role, and man does she do an amazing job. She's already begun to surpass her sister when it comes to acting chops. I can't wait to see where she goes.

Great performances, great film
The hype of this film prior to me even getting it in the store was higher than I had anticipated and I am actually having to order twice as many now. After playing it for screening audiences, word of mouth is making the demand even greater.

The Amazon editorial delves plenty deep into all of the characteristics and relationships being played in this film and to what adequacy the acting appeared. I was thoroughly impressed with how everyone filled their roles to where both kids and adults would get something out of this. The visuals of fantasy and reality blurring together were done believably, and the resulting outlooks left with the viewer about adults in a kids world were moving and well written.

Pullman was useless in the film as a father, but he played it perfect, as did Huffman in another obscure mother character role. Fanning proves she has a bright future with how she convinced both kids and adults what she was feeling and seeing in both worlds. The quality of the picture was adequate, and would be a solid case for HD with all of the colors used. The 5.1 gets used more often than one would think for a dialogue and fantasy film, but they stopped short with no special features of any kind.

The two cover art DVDs are exactly the same except for the picture, no content or feature differences (both 100 minutes). For parents that are wondering about the rating, the PG13 does exist due to several gay themed words being used and a couple cuss words. Hope you enjoy.

Through the eyes of a child
What is a child to do when she begins to realize that she is not like other children? And that her 'different-ness' is taking a toll on her family and alienating her friends, classmates, teachers, and others? In this lovely film by Daniel Barnz, the child "Phoebe" is beyond quirky, and she suffers not only from her own behavior but from the guilt she feels when her family members are affected by it. Lost in a world that is confusing and often harsh, she has to find her way back to what others call "normal."

I am a huge fan of anything Patricia Clarkson has done in the last ten years, and in this film she plays the loving, oddball drama teacher, "Miss Dodger." The movie is worth seeing simply for her performance, but added to that is the completely convincing way Elle Fanning plays Phoebe, making us truly believe that she is a child at wit's end. Bravo to Miss Fanning and I hope we see much more of her.

I recommend not reading too many reviews as there is a 'reveal' in this film that other reviewers will feel compelled to give away. If you are a very pragmatic, concrete personality, you may not be able to appreciate the scenes meant to show us the world through Phoebe's eyes, so this movie may not be to your liking, but anyone who understands and loves the 'different-ness' of all children will enjoy this film.