NOW Magazine // Movies // The Tale Of Despereaux

Matthew Broderick plays the big cheese in tasty Tale Of Despereaux.

Story Tools
Email
Print
Republish
Save
Share

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX (Sam Fell, Robert Stevenhagen). 95 minutes. Opens Friday (December 19). For venues and times, see Movies.

NOW Rating	N	N	N	N	N

Reader's Rating

Movie Reviews

The Tale Of Despereaux

Mighty mouse

By Deirdre Swain

The Tale Of Despereaux might be too scary for the wee-est of kidlets. Or so a parent whispered to me as he led his boy out while the mouse Despereaux was being menaced by a fearsome, vicious cat. It might also be a bit long, especially since it takes forever for our tiny hero to appear.

But for older kids, there’s outstanding animation (particularly during the storybook sequences) and some irony-free humour. Matthew Broderick, whose flat, nasal voice might seem an odd choice for vocal work, is great as the small rodent who befriends a kind rat (Dustin Hoffman) and a sad princess (Emma Watson). The life lessons imparted by narrator Sigourney Weaver are unsubtle, but there are worse things to do during the holidays than teach kids about honour, tolerance and friendship.

NOW | December 16-23, 2008 | VOL 28 NO 16

Go to Movies

Comments

Posted by See? on 12/19/2008, 02:09 PM

We don't really have any thoughts on [The Tale Of Despereaux], other than to note our amusement at Deirdre Swain's review in NOW, where she claims Matthew Broderick's "flat, nasal voice might seem an odd choice for vocal work," apparently ignoring the fact that he's had a long career doing it (including playing the adult Simba in The Lion King!)

Post a comment :

All comments are reviewed. HTML links are not allowed.