The BFG

Five stories tall, lanky, and with massive droopy ears that protrude out of the sides of his head, the titular Big Friendly Giant (or BFG) is one of the more remarkable special effect creations I have seen in the movies in a while.  A combination of state of the art CG, combined with a warm and winning motion capture performance by Mark Rylance, makes for one of the most emotive and emotional CG creatures in history.  It's a very human creation, never once veering to the side of the Uncanny Valley.  This is important, because the Giant and his relationship with a small young human girl (played by a wonderful young newcomer named Ruby Barnhill) is the key to the entire film.  If we don't buy the relationship between the two, or believe they are occupying the same space, The BFG simply would not work.

Here is the gentlest and sweetest family movie to come along since The Peanuts Movie.  Director Steven Spielberg has taken Roald Dahl's children's book, and essentially given us a cinematic bedtime story that is filled with wonder, a lot of heart, and humor.  There is some danger, obviously, but it's nothing too tense.  It's not really a movie that's driven by conflict or plot in the first place.  The entire film is based solely on the friendship created by the Giant, and his new human friend, Sophie.  Both are people who find themselves often sad and alone, and with no one to express their feelings to.  Sophie is an orphan whose parents died shortly after she was born.  She is an insomniac, and often takes to wandering the halls of the orphanage late at night when she's supposed to be asleep.  The Giant lives in a far off land called Giant Country, where there are many more of his kind, but he is different from everyone else.  Not only is he the smallest of all his brothers (the others refer to him as "runt"), but he's also not like them in personality.  The other giants have names like "The Bloodbottler" and "The Butcher", and take delight in scaring and eating children.  The BFG, meanwhile, is more interested in capturing small orbs of light that represent dreams, and sending them off to the children of the world.

This is actually how the two friends meet.  Sophie happens to see the Giant one night doing his dream duty, blasting dreams off into children's heads with a trumpet-like object.  Knowing that he has been discovered, and fearing that Sophie will tell someone about what she saw, the Giant has no choice but to pluck the girl from her bed, and bring her back to his home.  The two form an unlikely friendship which carries the entire film, and that is why the effects work is so important.  If we did not believe that the Giant was a living, breathing creation, everything would collapse.  But Rylance and young Ms. Barnhill have such an instant chemistry, and Spielberg has found a way to bring out the humanity in Rylance's performance so that it stands out amongst the technical wizardry, instead of being buried behind it.  This is a gentle fable about two friends learning to accept one another, and it seldom goes deeper than that.  Yes, there are mean giants around who suspect that the BFG is hiding a child from them, but they are not the focus here, and seldom show up.  Instead, we get to watch Sophie learn about the Giant's world, such as what he eats (a rather foul-smelling vegetable known as a "snozzcumber") and drinks (a soda-like concoction that causes flatulence instead of belching).  And yes, the movie does manage to get off a rare successful fart joke in a scene that mixes a girl's Princess fantasy with genuinely funny rude humor that is bound to have kids rolling.

The film's simplicity is both the best and most disappointing aspect of The BFG.  On the one hand, the movie has warmth to spare, and we genuinely feel for the lead characters.  On the other, there really isn't much more to the story, other than a third act development that finds Sophie and the Giant turning to none other than the Queen of England (Penelope Wilson) to help defeat the meaner giants.  At roughly two hours, the movie does feel a lot longer than it should, and some editing probably would have led to an even better movie.  Still, what's here is absolutely enchanting, and aside from a couple of slow moments, the movie is never dull.  The atmosphere of the film (foggy London streets, the mysterious Giant Country) and images dreamed by Spielberg were more than enough to hold my attention, and I also fell in love with the performances, especially Ruby Barnhill as Sophie.  In her first major role, she shows a real command for the screen, and a wonderfully dry sense of humor.  Much like how Daniel Radcliffe kicked off his career with the Harry Potter films, I hope she can continue to bigger things.

The big question here is how will kids react to it?  Despite the dazzling effects, this is nowhere near as splashy as most family entertainment.  It's actually sort of low key and melancholy at times.  I would not be surprised if some kids find themselves preferring the much livelier Finding Dory, or the upcoming The Secret Life of Pets.  Still, I think this movie can still speak to certain children.  After all, knowing how to capture childhood on film is one of the things Spielberg has always excelled at.  As long as kids know what they are getting walking in, this should be fine entertainment.  I would tell a kid that this is a bedtime story, a gentle fable that is laid back and sweet, and not really interested in making their hearts and minds race.  It can be meandering at times, but there is always a sense of discovery to it.  It's not in a hurry to get to where it's going, but it doesn't feel tedious.  It's a different kind of family film than what Hollywood gives to us, and I hope kids are able to embrace it.

Supposedly, the story of The BFG appealed to Spielberg because it's about a creature who captures dreams, and that's what he feels filmmakers do.  This is not the funniest, freshest, or most exciting movie, but it has a huge heart, is a marvel to look at, and I just really liked it a lot.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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