Directed by: Gary Winick
Starring: Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer, Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, Robert Redford, Thomas Haden Church, André Benjamin, Dominic Scott Kay, Sam Shepard, Dakota Fanning
Classification: U
It's certainly a shame that Charlotte's Web should see a February UK release, since it's the kind of feelgood movie that would have been best received at Christmas, mixing cute animals and some astonishingly realistic animation to provide us with the usual motley crew of critters that will delight children everywhere.
Fern (Dakota Fanning) lives in a boring town in Somerset County, and one day she saves the runt of a pig's litter from being slaughtered by her father. She names him Wilbur, and he becomes her constant companion. Her parents begin to object, and her mother in particular sees the friendship as being somewhat unhealthy, so Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay) goes to live on her uncle's farm across the road. There he encounters a variety of farmyard animals, including a sheep named Samuel (John Cleese), a goose named Gussy (Oprah Winfrey), Bitsy and Betsy the cows (Kathy Bates and Reba McEntire), a horse named Ike (Robert Redford) and a rat named Templeton (Steve Buscemi). Most importantly, he meets Charlotte the spider (Julia Roberts). The other animals all dislike Charlotte, finding her ugly or creepy, but Wilbur takes to her immediately, being amazed by her webspinning abilities. He finds her to be beautiful, which is not so difficult to believe since the animators have done such a good job in making her just as cute as her furry co-stars. Soon the reason for his presence on the farm becomes obvious, and Charlotte promises that she will save him from being slaughtered at Christmas to provide ham and bacon. She spins words in her web, which amazes the local townspeople but fails to convince the farmer not to kill Wilbur. Eventually Fern persuades her uncle to enter him into an animal show at the town fair, and Charlotte realises this is their last chance to save the pig, and Templeton is dispatched to find some new, amazing words that will wow the crowds and convince the farmer not to slaughter Wilbur. It's essentially a kid's film, so I'm sure you can guess the ending.
The animation on Templeton and Charlotte is astounding and puts the recent CG-animated output of Dreamworks and Fox to shame, while the voice casting is absolutely spot-on, particularly in the case of John Cleese. Steve Buscemi's performance as a rat will be amusing to those adults who remember his protestations that he is not a rat in Reservoir Dogs. Thomas Haden Church and André Benjamin provide some diverting comedy as two crows whose attempts to steal corn are continually thwarted. Only Dakota Fanning lets the film down - sure, she's the most recognisable child actor of our times, but she's also rather scary, since she continually turns in adult performances whilst looking like a child. Her pious attitude may ultimately help save Wilbur but it has a tendency to come across as 'grating' after a while. Thankfully, the film isn't really about Fern - it's about an unlikely friendship between a pig and a spider.
For those arachnophobes out there, I really would recommend going to see this film. As I've alrady said, Charlotte is actually surprisingly 'cute' and her talent at webspinning really will make you look at cobwebs in a whole new light. Even the arachnophobic Ike overcomes his fears and recognises Charlotte as being the animal equivalent of a good person, and it is in this gentle way that the film communicates its message as it warns against the dangers of prejudice and the strength of friendship. Less preachy than most films aimed at children, Charlotte's Web is a pretty little film that will keep the youngsters occupied while delighting the inner child of the grown ups that accompany them.
Rating 4/5