Review

Review Date: 28-December-08
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

The Tale of Despereaux takes place in an imaginary kingdom where rodents talk and everybody loves soup. The hero is an adorable mouse with huge ears (and the voice of Matthew Broderick) who defies his race's meekness to live for bravery and honor. While soup and chivalry are both commendable, the movie serves as a reminder that too many cooks, or too many ingredients, can spoil the broth.

Based on an award-winning children's book by Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux casts its hero adrift in an unsavory and over-seasoned plot. All is well when little Despereaux is doing his thing, such as thwarting mousetraps, befriending a sad princess, losing himself in a book of fairy tales, and shocking his fellows with bold eccentricity. Yet when he leaves center stage, which happens too often, the story becomes muddled. Suggesting that the movie was fast-tracked after the success of Ratatouille, part of the action follows a rat called Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) who is banished to the dungeons after causing a tragic culinary accident in the sunlit chambers above. Roscuro goes through various changes of heart during his penitential journey, meeting Despereaux during a period of joint banishment which generates only a modicum of narrative cohesion.

The dungeons are a nasty place for all but the crudest vermin, with gladiator-like killings presided over by a rat tyrant. To show that things are tough all over, the movie also devotes time to a peasant girl with the illustrative name of Miggery Sow (Tracey Ullman). Her tangent leads to a bunch of malarkey about all girls being princesses which has nothing to do with the bewhiskered hero or his quest. Did somebody's marketing research determine that a mouse was too butch for girls?

At its core, Despereaux's story promotes the idea of being true to yourself despite other people's opinions and misfortunes that feel like injustice. Despite his size, the wee mouse could have carried this message on his own, battling naysayers and the contagion of gloom to save the princess and the day. The movie robs him of his glory, so while it may have soup, it does not bowl you over.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.