FANTASTIC MR. FOX: INDEED IS FANTASTIC

Mrs. Fox: This story's too predictable. Mr. Fox: Predictable? Really? Then, how does it end? Mrs. Fox: In the end, we all die. Unless you change.

Never again will I doubt Wes Anderson. Being a fan of his work, I let this one pass by doubting that he could keep his uniqueness while working with stop action figures. I was wrong. From start to finish this film about a fox (George Clooney) who is looking to improve his lot in life for himself and his family (Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman) is totally reminiscent of the Royal Tennenbaums. The dialogue is the glue that holds it all together aside from the cast of loyal alum. Rat (Willem Dafoe) is a scene stealer in a movie where all the scenes are stellar. This is the best cussing movie I've seen in a while.

• Throughout the film, the word "cuss" is used in place of actual cursing. When asked about its origin in a radio interview on "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, Wes Anderson said, "I don't even remember. It think it was just to use the concept of profanity as a replacement for profanity itself. It turned out to be very versatile." In keeping with this theme, one of the buildings seen in the film bears "CUSS" written as spray-painted graffiti.

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  The original story was written at a dark time in Roald Dahl's life. He had already lost one of his five children to measles and witnessed another one suffer from water on the brain as the result of a car accident. It was only natural that he would be spurred on to write a tale portraying the father as a protector of the family.
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  Wes Anderson's first family film. Although it still contains many of the trademarks of his live-action films, family dysfunction, colourful palettes, etc.

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