Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Dreadfully Boring

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The Wind in the Willows is a live action adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's famous book. A nervous Mole (Lee Ingleby) emerges from his hole and ventures out to the river where he encounters Ratty (Mark Gatiss) who takes him on a boat trip. They get taken on a caravan ride by Toad of Toad Hall (Matt Lucas) who then goes dashing about recklessly in a motorcar.Mole and Ratty join up with Badger (Bob Hoskins) to save Mr Toad from his reckless need for speed but he ends up in jail and then the weasles take over his manor.This is a fun family drama directed with some style by Rachel Talalay. Hoskins is suitably grumpy as Badger, Lucas is manic as Toad. There are some nice cameos from actors such as Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton. However the weasels were a letdown.

The movie begins with a brilliant idea that previous versions of Kenneth Grahame's book missed: animated animals are cartoons, not people. Grahame wrote his book with his main characters called by names of animals, living like animals (in the ground) sometimes, and living apart from humans (like animals). But they're humans . . . up to and including having their own god ("Piper at the Gates of Dawn.") This version fixed the ridiculousness of animation by having human beings in the roles, who had slight make-up like animals and some behavioral quirks like animals, but otherwise interacted like HUMANS. Thus, the script began with a brilliant improvement. It was so well done that one could forgive editorial decisions for time constraints ("Dulce Domum" is truncated, as is the seminal "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (no search for otter's pup, no poem explaining why they don't remember, no Pink Floyd.) The THEME of the book is friendship: Mole leaves his burrow and instantly strikes up and maintains a friendship with Rat. Rat is both generous and gracious with Mole, who supports Rat (in most things.) They give to each other because that's what friends do. Toad is merely the biggest friend who is also the most needy. Mole, Rat, and Badger work to rein in Toad for his own good and ultimately succeed by making painfully clear to Toad that their friendship requires his good behavior. AND TOAD AGREES. The book ends with the 4 animals being the closest companions and Toad is humble, self-effacing, and moves attention to others BECAUSE THEY'RE HIS FRIENDS. This movie waits until (literally) the last minute to undo and re-write all of that. Toad was going to be a fair and humble Toad . . . until he sees an airplane. Then he goes right back to being a selfish, destructive jerk. Rat and Badger and Mole leave in disgust. All that brilliance betrayed in 60 seconds. I want my time back.

Venturing out from his underground home, Mole joins Ratty for a river trip. They come across the rich Mr Toad, who has taken up caravanning as a new hobby. However this hobby is replaced by a new one when he is run off the road by a motorcar – sparking a new passion in his life. While Badger, Mole and Ratty try to cure Toad of his car obsession, the weasels use it against him in order to get the deeds to Toad Hall.That this was screened on New Years Day in the early evening slot should give you a clue about what to expect from this version. On the final day of the Christmas holiday, this is aimed at families with the parents enjoying the final day off work, looking for something warm, familiar and undemanding to watch that has enough of a family glow and wholesome feel to it to do the job. And that is just what this delivers nad it has the perfect material to do it with since Wind in the Willows is a family classic that many of us have affection for. Of course that is not saying that it is brilliant (it is not) but rather it is just safe family warmth without too much to really mark it out or justify watching it when not in a turkey-and-wine-induced stupor. The plot is well known and the film delivers it with a "jolly-old-England" air and light humour but not much else. It isn't that funny or inventive but again it does what it needed to do. Fans might also be narked that the weasels are squeezed into a silly panto action conclusion which seems like an afterthought for all concern.Visually the film looks good and the minimal design of the characters was a nice touch. The sets look good but the jump-edits and backgrounds were modern touches that jarred with the rest of the film and didn't work – the very occasional use of special effects were terrible too. The cast has one or two "holiday BBC family drama" faces in there to draw the audience but nobody does that well. Lucas hams it up in the main role and he seems to be enjoying himself. He will amuse children but he is closer to "silly" than "funny" from where I was coming from. Gatiss is a solid "Oxford-type" as Ratty and he is OK without being distinguished; likewise Ingleby's mole – good but not really memorable. Hoskins was a good piece of casting and he gives good badger with his constant grump. The weasels are poor characters and not that well delivered by a group cast for their tumbling ability rather than anything else but small turns from Staunton and a few others are amusing.Overall then a warm and basic bit of family entertainment that more or less did the job over the Christmas holidays by being pitched at a sedated family audience on their last day off work together and recovering from a New Year's Eve hangover. However it is not good enough to offer much if you are approaching it without this reduced set of requirements, not being funny, imaginative or engaging enough to stick in the mind even an hour after watching it. Of course it isn't helped by me having the memory of the 1996 version which, to be blunt, sh1ts on this version. OK it was floated down the river by Disney but it is better in almost every way and should be sought out by anything considering watching this because this 2006 version isn't a patch on it.

A highly enjoyable made-for-TV version of the story. The subtle costumes and understated acting are perfectly suited to the subject. Toad's frivolous and irresponsible behavior are well-captured, though I found him more childish than anything else. There are undertones of class separation and hints of the poverty of some of the characters that I found touching, and will go over the heads of many children, which to me is a plus.Bob Hoskins' Badger is a delight, and I have a soft spot for Mary Walsh, no matter how large or small the part she's in. The British and Canadian actors all bring their considerable talent to the table, despite the fact that most of them are relatively unknown (at least to the best of my knowledge).All-in-all, well worth renting or downloading, if you want a simple family movie for the holidays, or just a family movie night.