Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! – T. S. Spivet (Movie Review)

T. S. Spivet (UK Rating: 12A)

T. S. (Kyle Catlett) is a ten-year-old who lives on a remote ranch in Montana with his scientist mother, Dr. Clare (Helena Bonham Carter), cowboy father (Callum Keith Rennie), older sister, and twin brother. His talent for science is going unnoticed at school, so he sends a design for invention to the Smithsonian Institute and wins the top prize. His journey to collect the award takes him across half the country, but what the Institute does not realise is that he a young boy and that he has a very dark secret.

This is one of those rare instances where 3D is really allowed to come into its own and contribute to a film instead of being simply bolted on. The movie is a feast for the eyes, bringing to life the boy's inventions and theories with great 3D graphics that float around the screen. Sometimes they go inside other character's heads - especially T. S.'s big sister's - giving the audience a better understanding of what they are thinking. The film's three sections are introduced with wonderful pop-up book graphics, echoed in the 3D effects, which are based on his mother's diary. T. S. takes it with him on his journey to Washington and discovers it's not only full of photographs, drawings, handprints and notes, but it also explains a lot to the boy about his mother, her feelings and her relationship with his father.

That quirkiness, which is almost reminiscent of Wes Anderson, isn't just confined to some of the characters. T. S.'s home life is mildly eccentric. For instance, none of the family has a mobile phone - there's no reception - so the only phone is on the wall in the farmhouse. Also, his father retreats to a 'den' to watch classic westerns on an old TV among his collection of stuffed animals, and his mother, despite her abilities as a scientist, is a terrible cook with an extraordinary knack for setting toasters on fire. It is a charming time warp.

Jeunet gets good performances from his cast, with Kyle Catlett making an impressive debut as T. S., while Helena Bonham Carter is surprisingly low-key as his mother, but is all the better for it. As the under-secretary at The Smithsonian, Judy Davis laps up the film's showiest part, sporting a hair style that gives her more than a passing resemblance to Anna Wintour!

8/10

Great - Silver Award

T. S. Spivet is pure magic - funny, touching, imaginative and quirky. It takes a seemingly straightforward picaresque story and turns it into something genuinely special. It's an object lesson to directors that 3D is not just the latest addition to their bag of tricks; it really can lift a film out of the ordinary. All it takes is imagination...