Phoebe in Wonderland loses complex ideas down rabbit hole
Friday, March 6th, 2009
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Elle Fanning as the title character in 'Phoebe in Wonderland'
Conyers natives Dakota and Elle Fanning are an impressive pair of acting sisters, particularly given the fact that they’re both kids. Elle Fanning was only 10 years old for the filming of Phoebe in Wonderland, yet her rich performance nearly carries the entire movie and makes a potentially gimmicky role into more than a collection of tics.
Fanning’s Phoebe is a creative, precocious girl, bored by the rule-obsessed teacher at her school. Phoebe decides to audition for the school’s production of Alice in Wonderland. The free-spirited theater teacher Ms. Dodger (Patricia Clarkson) intrigues her, and Phoebe wins the role of Alice. Phoebe in Wonderland’s cleverest creation is Phoebe’s classmate Jamie (Ian Colletti), a budding theater queen who collects dolls and tries out for the Queen of Hearts.
During the rehearsal process, however, Phoebe’s quirks become more problematic. She washes her hands until her knuckles bleed, engages in endless rituals, spits at classmates and lets verbal outbursts fly. Her scholarly parents Peter and Hillary (Bill Pullman and “Desperate Housewives’” Felicity Huffman) grapple with guilt and concern when she exhibits symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
