Phoebe in Wonderland - 10 stars out of 10
"Phoebe in Wonderland" is one of the most sincere stories that I have ever seen. It begins with childlike innocence as we are transported into the mind of young Phoebe, a girl who loves and imagines the characters of "Alice in Wonderland." The story takes an unexpected turn when she becomes impulsive in her speech and self-destructive in her actions, the apparent victim of Tourette Syndrome. My respect for Elle Fanning has grown exponentially after seeing her tackle this complex role at the age of 10. I have always felt that she was riding on the coattails of her sister but in this film, she showed true acting finesse. The subtlety of her symptoms combined with her heart-wrenching emotional meltdown in bed make this one of the best performances by a child actor that I have ever seen. The film boasts one impressive scene after another and once things start to fall apart, it becomes a series of high-emotion scenes without much of a break in between. Another scene worth noting comes as Felicity Huffman (Phoebe's mom) pours her heart out to a therapist. This long monologue is uncut as the camera slowly zooms in on her tears from across the room over the course of a few minutes. It is an incredible scene as we symbolically move from the outside perspective of the therapist to the inside of the mother's heart. This scene is then trumped by Patricia Clarkson (the drama teacher)’s monologue about boys performing the greatest female roles in the time of Shakespeare. This story left me with a sense of vulnerability as a family is pulled apart by the stress caused by their daughter's uncontrollable behavior. The film will speak to any person who has or wants to have children, showing the amount of love and selflessness that is required to care for a child when the unexpected arises. "Phoebe in Wonderland" is one of the most underrated films out there and, while the thematic material is tough to swallow, the reward is well worth it in the end.
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