From possessed pumpkins to animated automatons, there are plenty of thrills to chill young viewers, and Black, who struts through the world as if it’s his duty to entertain, is a game guide. Vaccaro too comes off as a sweet nephew who’s emotionally vulnerable and a heck of a screamer when the action calls for it. And a divinely styled Blanchett plays the adult in the room who isn’t above delivering withering insults and head-butting evil gourds.
But like the overstuffed house at its center, “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” overreaches with an apocalyptic plot. While those Amblin movies that serve as its spiritual ancestors focused on a boy and his friends and family and maybe their town, here the entire history of humankind is at stake. And what’s respectably enjoyable in the moment ironically fades for lack of an intimate connection.
...the film, though set in a carefully reconstructed mid-20th century and also featuring flashbacks to World War Two and earlier, places careful limits on its own nostalgic urges, and finds ways for Jonathan, Florence and Lewis in the end to “say goodbye” to their past and move on to construct a new shared future. Along the way, there are plenty of pooh jokes to remind us that childhood never quite vanishes – and Black and Blanchett make for magical sparring partners.
"House” sometimes loses track of convoluted plot points and skimps on exteriors. But it does a fine job of capturing the childlike wonderment that suffused those earlier films.
Screenwriter Eric Kripke walks a neat tonal tightrope in his adaptation of the book, shifting its 1948 setting to the 1950s, and bringing a zappiness to the banter and scary stuff that should satisfy 21st-century kids.
Horror-meister Eli Roth (“Hostel”) directs with a solid feel for the way kids like to be frightened, then reassured, lacing nearly all the frights with humor, which is, after all, right in Black’s irreverent wheelhouse.
The movie often echoes the “Harry Potter” films, as Lewis begs Jonathan to teach him magic, and his uncle makes him read books and practice spells. Here, however, the teacher is an amateur, and the small town atmosphere feels quite different from Hogwarts.
“The House with a Clock in Its Walls” is wildly original, but in a pleasant way. It’s a throwback to an earlier era of filmmaking, in which the benefits of new technology are neatly disguised in old-school storytelling.
But like the overstuffed house at its center, “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” overreaches with an apocalyptic plot. While those Amblin movies that serve as its spiritual ancestors focused on a boy and his friends and family and maybe their town, here the entire history of humankind is at stake. And what’s respectably enjoyable in the moment ironically fades for lack of an intimate connection.
Annlee Ellingson
L.A. Biz
...the film, though set in a carefully reconstructed mid-20th century and also featuring flashbacks to World War Two and earlier, places careful limits on its own nostalgic urges, and finds ways for Jonathan, Florence and Lewis in the end to “say goodbye” to their past and move on to construct a new shared future. Along the way, there are plenty of pooh jokes to remind us that childhood never quite vanishes – and Black and Blanchett make for magical sparring partners.
Anton Bitel
Little White Lies
"House” sometimes loses track of convoluted plot points and skimps on exteriors. But it does a fine job of capturing the childlike wonderment that suffused those earlier films.
Screenwriter Eric Kripke walks a neat tonal tightrope in his adaptation of the book, shifting its 1948 setting to the 1950s, and bringing a zappiness to the banter and scary stuff that should satisfy 21st-century kids.
Horror-meister Eli Roth (“Hostel”) directs with a solid feel for the way kids like to be frightened, then reassured, lacing nearly all the frights with humor, which is, after all, right in Black’s irreverent wheelhouse.
The movie often echoes the “Harry Potter” films, as Lewis begs Jonathan to teach him magic, and his uncle makes him read books and practice spells. Here, however, the teacher is an amateur, and the small town atmosphere feels quite different from Hogwarts.
“The House with a Clock in Its Walls” is wildly original, but in a pleasant way. It’s a throwback to an earlier era of filmmaking, in which the benefits of new technology are neatly disguised in old-school storytelling.
Jane Horwitz
Washington Post Syndicate
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