BDirected by Paul King Starring Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, and Nicole Kidman Review by Jon Kissel |  |
The Paddington Bear character has been a part of British children’s literature for decades, and Paul King’s adaptation could have been released in the immediate aftermath of the character’s mid-century debut. With the exception of the seamless CGI creation that is the titular character, there’s little in Paddington that doesn’t feel like a throwback. By eschewing the glitz and noise of its contemporaries in the family film genre, Paddington achieves a timeless quality and avoids the corniness that can emerge alongside attempts to revitalize classic jokes and tones. King and co-writer Hamish McColl reject the snark of the age and embrace the same earnestness that animates Paddington himself.
The bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw, is sent to London from darkest Peru by his beloved Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) in the wake of his Uncle Pastuzo’s death by earthquake. She’s too old to take care of him herself, and between the curious gentleman explorer who discovered the bears and taught them English, and the news of London’s WWII generosity towards orphans that has reached as far as their South American jungle, she’s sure that Paddington will find a home across the ocean. The Brown family (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, and housekeeper Julie Walters) do indeed let him spend the night, but the anxious Mr. Brown doesn’t want a bear living in his home for long. Paddington’s charm and decent nature wins them over, but his life is put in danger by Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman), the daughter of the aforementioned explorer who was ruined after he returned from Peru empty-handed. Clyde is determined to clear her family’s name by capturing and stuffing a rare jungle bear. She’s got the museum habitat ready to go, and she just needs the specimen, sans his trademark jacket and hat and internal organs.
King assumes that the viewer has a minimal association with Paddington, which is the case for this viewer. The books by Michael Bond and Peddy Fortnum are distilled into a series of traits. The bears are shown to have a love for marmalade, which they make themselves on the one day of the year the oranges are perfectly ripe. The Browns dress Paddington in old hand-me-downs that the Brown children each wore, a fashion choice that can only endear him to the skeptical Mr. Brown. Paddington gives a rude person his hard stare, accompanied by zooms and foreboding music to communicate how serious such a look is.
These are mere habits and window dressing next to the essence of the character, which is a foundational goodness and faith in humanity. Paddington is simply a lovable character, able to earn laughs from gags that have been used hundreds of times. The conclusion to a scene in which Paddington tells Mr. Brown what his bear name is can be seen coming from miles away, but King makes it seem like this is the first time such a thing has ever been put to film. A big part of this scene’s success, and the film’s as well, is Whishaw’s guileless performance and the animation of the character, calibrated verbal inflection translated masterfully onto an expressive series of one’s and zero’s. When this winsome character is coupled with evergreen set pieces of Paddington-triggered Rube Goldberg devices leading to chaos and havoc, the film essentially can’t miss.
Paddington is an effortless charmer of a film, as soft and fluffy as a jungle bear post-blow drying session. King, a veteran of TV comic staples like Garth Marengi’s Dark Place and the Mighty Boosh, has made something wholesome but not saccharine, crowd-pleasing but not dumbed down. Paddington is the kind of film one hopes their kids might enjoy, if only so parents don’t have to suffer by seeing it time after time. This viewer could listen to the growls, chomps, and blinks that form Paddington’s bear name on a loop. B
King assumes that the viewer has a minimal association with Paddington, which is the case for this viewer. The books by Michael Bond and Peddy Fortnum are distilled into a series of traits. The bears are shown to have a love for marmalade, which they make themselves on the one day of the year the oranges are perfectly ripe. The Browns dress Paddington in old hand-me-downs that the Brown children each wore, a fashion choice that can only endear him to the skeptical Mr. Brown. Paddington gives a rude person his hard stare, accompanied by zooms and foreboding music to communicate how serious such a look is.
These are mere habits and window dressing next to the essence of the character, which is a foundational goodness and faith in humanity. Paddington is simply a lovable character, able to earn laughs from gags that have been used hundreds of times. The conclusion to a scene in which Paddington tells Mr. Brown what his bear name is can be seen coming from miles away, but King makes it seem like this is the first time such a thing has ever been put to film. A big part of this scene’s success, and the film’s as well, is Whishaw’s guileless performance and the animation of the character, calibrated verbal inflection translated masterfully onto an expressive series of one’s and zero’s. When this winsome character is coupled with evergreen set pieces of Paddington-triggered Rube Goldberg devices leading to chaos and havoc, the film essentially can’t miss.
Paddington is an effortless charmer of a film, as soft and fluffy as a jungle bear post-blow drying session. King, a veteran of TV comic staples like Garth Marengi’s Dark Place and the Mighty Boosh, has made something wholesome but not saccharine, crowd-pleasing but not dumbed down. Paddington is the kind of film one hopes their kids might enjoy, if only so parents don’t have to suffer by seeing it time after time. This viewer could listen to the growls, chomps, and blinks that form Paddington’s bear name on a loop. B
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