Fantasy Adaptation On Max Does The Book Incredible Justice
It is rare to find a book and movie so well aligned as they are in Inkheart. Perhaps it is because Cornelia Funke, the author of the book, produced the movie, or perhaps it is because the screenplay writer and the director are just good at their jobs. Whatever the case, if you want to read a book and then see a movie that is spot on, Inkheart, streaming on Max now, is perfect for you.
As an avid lover of books, movies, and television series, I am forever lamenting the terrible choices made when books are adapted into film. Percy Jackson and Eragon come instantly to mind, but there are many others. So it is with a happy heart that I can report that a favorite book of mine and my children’s, Inkheart, was adapted wonderfully to film.
The Power Of Words
Inkheart is a story about a man, Mo (Brendan Fraser), who has raised his daughter, Meggie (Eliza Bennett), mostly on his own since the disappearance of his wife, Resa (Sienna Guillory). When the movie opens, we see Mo and Resa with their baby daughter. Mo is reading to her aloud from Little Red Riding Hood, and suddenly, a red riding hood lifts from the pages and appears in the room with Mo and his family. Twelve years later, Mo and Resa are wandering through a bookstore, and Mo finds and purchases a book, Inkheart.
Read The Wrong Book And You Summon Paul Bettany
As they leave the bookstore with the book, a man appears alongside them with a tiny creature called a marten, which tries to bite Meggie’s fingers. Mo recognizes the man as Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), a character from Inkheart Mo read out of the book. Dustfinger begs Mo to read him back into the book.
Everything Gets Worse
The problem, we learn, is that while Mo has the power to read items and characters out of books, what he never realizes is that sometimes items and real people are simultaneously read into the books.
So, the struggle of Inkheart is that Mo wants to read his wife out of the book and read the characters back in, but he doesn’t quite know how. When we discover that Meggie holds the same power as her father, even more trouble ensues.
A Movie With A Message
Cornelia Funke manages to capture our imagination in Inkheart, reminding us of the literal and meta-level power of stories and storytelling. The adventures also impart the wisdom we all must learn, that happy endings are not a foregone conclusion, and that part of the purpose of our lives is to find ways to do the right thing, even when bad things happen, even when we’re seduced by the dark side, even when we can’t even be sure it is the right thing.
Streaming On Max
REVIEW SCORE
Brendan Fraser plays Mo brilliantly; he was at the height of his career, and the loving, persistent, and terrified father was a perfect role for him at the time. Paul Bettany as Dustfinger, torn between doing what’s right and doing what’s right for him, is an excellent foil to Fraser’s Mo, the stalwart hero. And Helen Mirren, as Aunt Elinor, is, of course, always fabulous.
For a film from 2008, Inkheart manages to make us feel like we do in fact live in a magical world where truly anything can happen. Now, if only we could get a sequel. Inkspell, anyone?
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