Matilda Wormwood is a special kind of child. Her brain capacity at age 1 is already well over what most full grown children's is, but her family is a tacky and crass band of underachievers who don't understand their child or see the importance of a quality education. As she grows older, she begins to develop special telekenetic powers where she can move things with her mind and she uses this to get back at her bullies (such as her evil school principal and thoughtless parents).
Through her new powers, Matilda discovers that family is what you make it and, sometimes, the families we're born into aren't going to understand or accept us and we have to make families of our own that aren't related by blood.
Danny DeVito directs and stars and demonstrates a love for quirky close ups and wide angle lenses to give the film and feeling of being in a child's shoes where everything is big and threatening. Rhea Pearlman and Pam Ferris are hilariously over the top as Matilda's vulgar mother and evil principal with Embeth Davitz radiating a rare kind of warmth as Matilda's kindly teacher, Ms. Honey. David Newman's score is playful and moving and wraps everything up in a lovely bow.
Matilda is a perfect family film that never talks down to children or shields them from the cruelty of the world. In that way, it's one of the few family films that actually resembles the original Grimm's fairy tales where even your own parents would abandon you in the woods because they didn't want to bother feeding you or because you usurped them in beauty or talent. It's a hard lesson to learn that the family you were born to might not always understand you or have your best interests at heart.
Through her new powers, Matilda discovers that family is what you make it and, sometimes, the families we're born into aren't going to understand or accept us and we have to make families of our own that aren't related by blood.
Danny DeVito directs and stars and demonstrates a love for quirky close ups and wide angle lenses to give the film and feeling of being in a child's shoes where everything is big and threatening. Rhea Pearlman and Pam Ferris are hilariously over the top as Matilda's vulgar mother and evil principal with Embeth Davitz radiating a rare kind of warmth as Matilda's kindly teacher, Ms. Honey. David Newman's score is playful and moving and wraps everything up in a lovely bow.
Matilda is a perfect family film that never talks down to children or shields them from the cruelty of the world. In that way, it's one of the few family films that actually resembles the original Grimm's fairy tales where even your own parents would abandon you in the woods because they didn't want to bother feeding you or because you usurped them in beauty or talent. It's a hard lesson to learn that the family you were born to might not always understand you or have your best interests at heart.