56% (%) 6) http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/movies/06phoe.html * * * * "See my profile for the key to this code" * * * * SYNOPSIS: "This is at once a tale of Phoebe (Elle Fanning), an imaginative but troubled girl with a desperate longing to be in her school's production of Alice in Wonderland. When she is cast in the lead role, her parents believe her unusual behavior is due to her creativity, but soon realize that she is on the brink of falling through the looking glass herself. It is also a portrait of her mother (Felicity Huffman), a woman caught between trying to raise a child and striving for success in an academic career, while feeling a failure in both. It also includes an unusually gifted, but peculiar, educatora drama teacher (Patricia Clarkson), who is directing the school production of Alice in Wonderland, which Phoebe longs to be part of. As talented and exceptional as Phoebe appears to be, she is also increasingly far away, retreating into fantasy, and frustrating her parents and teachers." CONSENSUS: "Blessed with a good cast, "Phoebe"'s heart is in the right place, but its execution is dicey." MOTIVATION FOR ME TO SEE: Patricia Clarkson is starring (last seen in "Married Life" - 30 Jun 09), as well as Felicity ("Desperate Housewives") Huffman, who I first enjoyed in TV's underrated "Sportsnight" (1998). MY THOUGHTS: The strongest performance by far is Huffman's. Most of the plot is telegraphed and slow paced, with dialogue that seems obvious, clunky. Watchable, but seems more like a "movie of the week." [New purchase by HCL]

posted Jul 22, 2009 at 7:09AM

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