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Inkheart

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Inkheart (2009)

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Reviews Counted: 131

Fresh: 51

Rotten:80

Average Rating: 5.1/10

Consensus: Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Theatrical Release:Jan 23, 2009 Wide

Box Office: $17,281,832

Synopsis: Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel, INKHEART, comes to life in director Iain Softley’s (THE SKELETON KEY, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE) feature-film adaptation of the same name. For 12 years, bookbinder... Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel, INKHEART, comes to life in director Iain Softley’s (THE SKELETON KEY, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE) feature-film adaptation of the same name. For 12 years, bookbinder Mo (Brendan Fraser) and his daughter, Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett), have been traveling the world, poking around secondhand bookstores. Meggie correctly assumes that her father is looking for her mother, Resa (Sienna Guillory), who disappeared without a trace. What Meggie doesn’t know is that Mo is a Silvertongue, and when he reads a story aloud, the details and characters come to vivid life. But when a character comes out of a book, someone has to go back in, and Mo is searching a copy of the book, titled "Inkheart," into which Resa literally disappeared. When Mo read the story aloud, unaware of his powers, she was sucked into the story, and the fantastical novel’s villainous characters were released. Now, Mo and Meggie have to keep evil Capricorn and his henchmen from realizing their diabolical plot, and send everyone back where they belong. INKHEART is awash with colorful details. Capricorn has had to make do with a stuttering Silvertongue who delivers characters that are half-read: text from the book is tattooed on their faces, or they suffer some other malady, emerging from the book mute or with an odd physical feature. Paul Bettany is engaging as Dustfinger, a character who desperately wants to be read back into "Inkheart" and return to his family, portrayed by Bettany’s real-life love, Jennifer Connelly, in a miss-her-if-you-blink performance. Helen Mirren is good fun as eccentric, feisty bibliophile Aunt Elinor, and Jim Broadbent appears as the novel’s author, who is enthralled by the possibilities of Mo’s gift. [More]

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Andy Serkis, Eliza Hope Bennett, Rafi Gavron

Director: Iain Softley

Director: Iain Softley
Screenwriter: David Lindsay-Abaire
Producer: Iain Softley, Diana Pokorny, Cornelia Funke
Composer: Javier Navarrete
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Release:

Jun 23, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • (unspecified) English

Additional Release Material:

  • Featurette
  • 1. A Story from the Cast and Crew [Playing the game "tell me a story," Novelist Cornelia Funke starts the cast & crew off on this wild adventure by giving the first line,"I discovered the hole under my bed on my thirtenth birthday…."
  • 2. 2. Eliza Reads to Us [Actress Eliza Bennett ("Meggie Folchart") shares one of her favorite passages from the book that did not end up in the movie accompanied by Cornelia illustrations of the story]
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Inkheart

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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If there's a problem for me with Inkheart, it is one of scope. This feels like it should be an epic movie, but it's not.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
06/24/09
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

For all its problems, it's a sweet, clever work.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
06/23/09
David Cornelius
DVDTalk.com

When you have to question every other scene and a ferret steals the show, you know you're in trouble.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
06/20/09
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

As far as movies based on books about books go, it's anything but a pageturner.

Full Review Source: SFX Magazine | comment 1 Comment
05/12/09
Jayne Nelson
SFX Magazine

Readers who want to exercise their imaginations may prefer to stick to the written word. If a story gets boring, you can always skip a few pages and move on. In the cinema there isn't much choice.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
04/10/09
Evan Williams
The Australian

The message is so muddied by the film's dizzying changes in pitch and tone that a lot of young readers aren't going to know what to think.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
04/10/09
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald

Una aventura entretenida sobre todo para público adolescente, y para todo aquel que haya disfrutado alguna vez de un buen libro de fantasía.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
04/09/09
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total

Gaping plot holes aside, Inkheart is a lovely little film, aimed at the bookish among us, and peppered with a love of the literary.

Full Review Source: Screenwize | comment Comment
04/04/09
Cris Kennedy
Screenwize

It's a familiar tale, but one told with gusto, wit and visual flare...

Full Review Source: Time Out Sydney | comment Comment
04/03/09
David Jenkins
Time Out Sydney

A diverting excursion into fantasy gothic territory.

Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment Comment
04/03/09
Jason Di Rosso
MovieTime, ABC Radio National

This adventure-fantasy film doesn't have the special effects depth of a Lord Of The Rings movie, nor the charm of the Harry Potter franchise, but it is still quite enjoyable.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
04/03/09
Karlie Jeffrey
FILMINK (Australia)

Not ghastly, but not exhilarating either.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
04/03/09
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)

There's nothing terribly wrong with Inkheart but it just doesn't quite engage us,"

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/27/09
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

There's a shortage of magic in this adventure fantasy, and despite some good elements including its spectacular Italian settings and a solid cast, this adaptation about storybook characters prised from their world, is a bit of a blot

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/27/09
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile

Kanones bebaia poy agnooyntai, prospernioyntai, lygizontai, i spane horis kamia egnoia, otan to apaitei i formoylaiki ploki gia na ftasei stin epomeni pista mias asymmazeyta asynartitis sto desimo tis plithorikis se ypoplokes kai deyteroys haraktires isto

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
03/22/09
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

This fantasy-lit film is too intense for young ones drawn to its books-come-to-life story and not sharp enough for Potter fans.

Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | comment Comment
02/19/09
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

The main attractions are the Serious British Thespians cutting loose and having fun while still displaying convincing commitment to the fanciful material.

Full Review Source: Mr. Brown's Movies | comment Comment
02/06/09
Michael Dequina
Mr. Brown's Movies

Last Action Hero for books. By proxy, it's also kind of The Purple Rose of Cairo for books, but it's not as good as either... It would really amuse me if it ended with the family deciding, after all this trouble, let's never read again.

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
02/06/09
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

Much less cringe-worthy, juvenile and bland than Bedtime Stories, it lacks the awe-inspiring thrills, brilliance and imagination that makes superior films like Harry Potter so exhilarating and unforgettable.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
01/30/09
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

"...unconvincing characters and uncompelling action."

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
01/29/09
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Inkheart

January 30, 2009: Making a movie about the magic to be found in reading books, is a little like General Motors singing the praises of riding a bike instead. Opens in new window
More...

January 22, 2009: Critics Consensus: Inkheart Is Less Than Magical
This week at the movies, we've got living literature (Inkheart, starring Brendan Fraser and Eliza Hope Bennett); political intrigue (Frost/Nixon, starring Michael Sheen and... More...

January 22, 2009: Box Office Guru Preview: Underworld Battles Oscar All-Stars
Only two new releases hit the North American box office, but in the wake of Academy Award nominations, a handful of contenders take the opportunity to expand nationwide hoping... More...

December 14, 2008: Warner Bros. Firms Up 2009 Schedule Opens in new window
From "Inkheart" to "Sherlock Holmes," the Warner Bros. slate for 2009 has been set, and ComingSoon has posted it for your perusal. More...

See More Topics...

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