Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)

With: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon

Plot: An over-achieving family-fox (Clooney) runs foul of farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean when robbing their farms, while his son (Schwartzman) struggles to be acknowledged by him.

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I wondered how Anderson would put his stamp on this with it being a different medium and pre-existing story, but it fits right in with the rest of his films. All his hallmarks are here, from the hyper-designed chocolate-box visuals, litany of troubled passive-agressive characters and the familiar if cheerier-than-usual theme of an eccentric, somewhat distant father. This being a cartoon, all these quirks feel much more at home than usual and what once might have been annoying now feels appropriate and often hilarious. People who find Anderson's arch, zany tone will still probably be put off though. Personally I enjoyed it a lot, it's an immediate if lightweight alternative to his more morose but probably better other films.

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