Paddington (2015)

Film: Paddington (2015)
Stars: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent
Director: Paul King
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

While my childhood was filled with books in every corner of the house and bedtime, Michael Bond's stories about a bear named Paddington never reached my ears.  Perhaps they were a bit too British, or perhaps it was because my mother's love of Judy Blume and CS Lewis precluded her from investigating these tales, but I was wholly unfamiliar with the Paddington series, other than the bear's iconic hat and blue coat, when I popped in a DVD of the film yesterday evening.  As a result, my only real interactions with the series were two bizarre contradictions: the initial trailers for the film, which looked egregiously bad, to the point of blaspheming on the beloved children's tale, and the reviews, which were almost universally adulatory to the point of nearing 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.  These two contradictions intrigued me enough to ensure Paddington was seen before the end of the year, and as luck would have it rose to the top of my queue more quickly than I anticipated.

(Spoilers Ahead) The question now, of course, is if I liked the movie, which I did.  Not having been familiar with the stories I don't know if we are seeing a carbon copy or a complete misread of the books, but the film has a hearty glow of English loveliness to it.  It's hardly groundbreaking entertainment, but that doesn't have to happen every film (not everyone is Richard Linklater or Terrence Malick), and there's really no falseness to it.  In a world where we feel like every cartoon or childhood character has to be hip or modern, Paddington feels very authentically at home in a different era.  This is the sort of film like Matilda or Babe in the 1990's that children could cling to without any parental worry about cynicism.  Just a love for a bear in a coat.

Part of this is achieved through a series of simple, but always genuine, interactions with Paddington and both his aunt/uncle as well as his adopted family the Browns.  The film isn't shy about relying a bit on cliches to establish the characters, principally the children who get very little to do in the movie, but it has the good sense to hire actors who are aware of this books place in British lore and who give this film respect and not treat it like a paycheck (which oftentimes feels the case with children's movies, let's be honest).  Sally Hawkins has a warmth as Mrs. Brown that is undeniable, but also keeps her character very real, as does Hugh Bonneville as her nervous husband.  Best of all is Nicole Kidman as a scheming taxidermist, off to restore her family's honor by putting Paddington on the mantlepiece.  Kidman, who has a cool elegance that lends itself well to a movie villain, occasionally hams it up but by-and-large she stays within the universe of Paddington, letting the bear stay the star even when her charisma and role could steal the film from beneath his paws.

The weirdest thing about the film, quite frankly, is that the trailer showed arguably the worst scenes.  There's a gross-out sequence with a toothbrush followed by an implausible situation with bathroom plumbing that was the highlight of the trailer, but really this is the lowest moment of the film and the only toilet-bowl scene (quite literally, in fact).  The rest of the movie is leisurely, investing time in side characters but particularly in making Paddington himself a well-rounded individual, and all-in-all it's an adorable little film.  Like I said above-this isn't rocket science here, but simplicity is hard when it's done well and without dullness, and Paddington and his lovely charms surely reach that point.

There you have it-I debated between three and four stars and went with the former just because I don't love the film even if I admire it (it isn't in my heart like Matilda or Babe, admittedly), but I surely would recommend it to anyone, particularly anyone with children, and wouldn't begrudge someone giving it that extra star (I'd be part of the 98% Fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes if I were part of that community).  In the meantime, though, please share your thoughts on this movie-were you a fan?  Did you skip it due to the trailer but are coming back due to the ratings?  Share your thoughts in the comments!