‘Bookworm’: Fantasia Review

Dir: Ant Timpson. New Zealand. 2024. 104mins

An estranged father and daughter go on an odd odyssey in Bookworm, a likeably quirky household movie that might use slightly extra comedian inspiration. Elijah Wooden brings ample appeal to the function of a mediocre American magician who reunites along with his precocious Kiwi 11-year-old Mildred (Nell Fisher) after her mom slips right into a coma. At first Mildred is livid to see her dad, however they haven’t any alternative however to work collectively as soon as she turns into decided to trace down a legendary large panther that lives within the close by wilderness. The New Zealand landscapes couldn’t be extra enchanting, though the story lacks an analogous magic.

Parts of a contemporary fairytale

Bookworm is a lighthearted opener for this yr’s Fantasia Fest, and style followers’ adoration for Wooden ought to assist increase the image’s profile. Business prospects look to be solely modest; a New Zealand launch is deliberate for August 8, and the movie has bought to worldwide territories together with Australia, USA and UK/Eire. Nonetheless, those that choose their household movies to be a tad peculiar could also be happy by this idiosyncratic, uneven undertaking.

Mildred, who lives within the Canterbury area of New Zealand, is the bookworm of the title and at all times has her nostril in a tome – which sadly means she’s not particularly well-liked together with her extra sociable classmates. (Additionally in all probability not serving to is her affected talking type, an try to sound extra subtle than her friends) After a freak toaster accident leaves her mom in a coma, Mildred has nobody to take care of her — till, that’s, her absent father, a past-his-prime entertainer named Strawn (Wooden), seems. These two have by no means met — Mildred was the product of a forgettable one-night stand in Las Vegas — and she or he is totally unimpressed at his makes an attempt to be paternal. (Plus, she thinks he’s a horrible magician — a time period he despises, insisting on being known as an illusionist.)

Reluctantly, Mildred recruits Strawn to participate in a tenting journey she and her mom had been scheduled to undertake, to attempt to seize video of a uncommon and harmful native panther – a feat that might internet the fortunate cameraperson a $50,000 money prize that her debt-ridden household desperately wants. Mildred might not get together with Strawn, however an journey crammed with foot chases, robberies and automobile crashes might find yourself bringing them nearer.

New Zealand filmmaker Ant Timpson beforehand labored with Wooden on his 2019 function directorial debut Come To Daddy, a narrative of a father and son attempting to fix fences. Bookworm has parts of a contemporary fairytale, together with the usage of chapter titles and the narrative’s suggestion of the attainable existence of real magic. (Strawn believes in such enchantment, however his daughter is sceptical, particularly after he clumsily tries to carry out methods meant to dazzle her.) The movie’s off-kilter sense of humour — a mix of deadpan and broad comedy (together with fart jokes) — solely additional accentuates the image’s whimsical qualities.

What hurts Bookworm is a strained storyline constructed round this seek for the elusive panther. The results work on the ferocious creature is stable, however there isn’t a lot sense of marvel across the panther — and, likewise, no larger metaphorical implications to the mighty beast that this dysfunctional father and daughter are searching for. Additional narrative obstacles are launched — mainly, a seemingly neighbourly couple (Michael Smiley, Vanessa Stacey) who attempt to befriend our protagonists throughout their quest — that solely lead to an over-complicated plot. By the point Strawn and Mildred are dangling from a rope suspended precariously excessive above the bottom between two mountain ranges, Bookworm has turn into a convoluted yarn missing ample emotional undercurrents or ace set items.

Wooden capably comports himself as this hack magician who can be a failure at life. There’s actual vulnerability within the efficiency as Strawn tries his greatest to cease being a screw-up, though he not often succeeds as both an entertainer or father. Fisher has a harder time, largely as a result of her character is extra of a gimmick than a lady. Regardless of her superior vocabulary and highfalutin diction, Mildred is painfully insecure, hiding behind her smarts to compensate for her loneliness; one thing that by no means stops feeling like a man-made conceit. 

Including to the image’s really feel of a fractured fairy story, cinematographer Daniel Katz, who additionally labored on Come To Daddy, shoots the movie’s preliminary inside sequences in a small, sq. facet ratio, solely to then stretch the body to widescreen as soon as this father and daughter set off on their journey. However the promise of that sweeping journey by no means involves move — like Strawn, Timpson isn’t at all times profitable in weaving a compelling phantasm.