Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Young girl ends up in horrid boarding school while her father goes to war, and it's up to her to stay strong in bad times.
Biased, pithy comments: Based on the famous Burnett novel, this is a Victorian novel adapted for modern times. The novel was a bit heavy on sweetness---Sara Crewe was just totally perfect in every way, and nobly took her suffering like a professional masochist. The movie makes her more palatable---she's just a spunky gal caught in a bad scene. The thick visuals combined with the sitar-and-orchestra music have a wonderful punch, but the story (the page-turning strength of the novel) goes by so quickly one doesn't quite have enough time for the emotional impact to set in. Also, Burnett's coincidence-dependent plot is strained further by moving the action from London to New York and mucking with the details. Definitely a movie recommended for budding cinematographers, but perhaps too dreamy and magical-realismish for embittered Gen-Xers like me.
Other Notes: OK, so I'm not probably the target audience for this sort of thing, but you can't stop a guy from giving his opinion, can you? Well, not on the web, anyhow.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Liesel Matthews, Liam Cunningham, Eleanor Bron, Rusty Schwimmer, Errol Sitahal.
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron