Bringing ‘Madeline’ to Life in a Very by-the-Book Way
Who says blonds have more fun? When it comes to child heroines, there’s nothing like red on the head. Just ask Annie, or Pippi Longstocking, or drop by a theater near you and meet the vivacious young star of “Madeline.”
Adapted from several of Ludwig Bemelmans’ enduring children’s books about a fearless orphan at a French girls school, “Madeline” plays more like a pilot for a TV series than a stand-alone feature. It introduces Madeline (Hatty Jones), her schoolmates, their marvelously kind teacher Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand), and the school’s curmudgeonly owner Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne), then cobbles together a semblance of an episode, hoping your kids will create the demand for more.
“Madeline” is for really small fry and for nostalgic adults--moms, mostly--with fond memories of the character conceived by Bemelmans in 1939. Given her rambunctious nature, her curiosity and her stubborn spirit, there has been no time like the present for her to matriculate to the big screen.
Jones, who sports one of the few dimpled noses I’ve seen, has the right balance of cuteness and spunk for the charismatic Madeline, whose challenges in this story are to (a) prevent recently widowed Lord Covington from selling the school, and (b) rescuing next-door neighbor Pepito (Kristian de la Osa), the spoiled son of a Spanish diplomat, from a gang of kidnapping circus clowns.
Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer (“Woo”) generates real empathy for the children and opens the stage for supremely appealing performances by British newcomer Jones and veteran McDormand. But there is no visual magic to underscore the adventures.
Madeline and Miss Clavel, kindred spirits over the generation gap, are operating in a very stark, graceless environment, in a story that moves in fits and starts. But then, only a critic with no kid in tow is likely to notice.
* MPAA rating: PG, for momentary language. Times guidelines: Kidnapping sequence may frighten very small children.
‘Madeline’
Frances McDormand: Miss Clavel
Nigel Hawthorne: Lord Covington
Hatty Jones: Madeline
Ben Naiels: Leopold the Tutor
Kristian de la Osa: Pepito
A Jaffilms/Pancho Kohner/Saul Cooper production, released by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. Produced by Cooper, Kohner, Allyn Stewart. Screenplay Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, based on the book by Ludwig Bemelmans. Cinematography Pierre Aim. Editor Jeffrey Wolf. Music Michel Legrand. Production designer Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski. Art directors Bertrand Clercq-Roques, Gerard Drolon, Rebecca Holmes. Set decorator Aline Bonetto. Costumes Michael Clancy. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
* In general release around Southern California.