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'Inkheart' Is Whimsy Turned Chintzy

By CHRISTY LEMIRE

The Associated Press

Published: January 22, 2009

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Whimsy shouldn't be overwhelming. It shouldn't be a busy, messy cacophony. By definition, there should be something delicate about it. Charming, even.

"Inkheart" has long since slammed the book shut on that concept, with director Iain Softley cramming in more literary characters and mystical creatures than would seem humanly possible.

The mythology here, taken from the best-selling novel by Cornelia Funke, is mind-bogglingly dense and, often, illogical. Maybe it worked better on the page; on the screen, from a script by Pulitzer-winner David Lindsay-Abaire, it feels like an onslaught.

Brendan Fraser brings his typically stoic demeanor to the role of Mortimer "Mo" Folchart, a bookbinder who has been trolling secondhand stores for years looking for the medieval adventure saga "Inkheart" in hopes of righting a wrong. (Because going online, ordering it from Amazon and then waiting a few days for it to arrive wouldn't have made any sense.)

You see, Mo has an unfortunate gift: He's a "Silvertongue." That means when he reads a book out loud, its characters literally come to life in the real world. Like, they just pop up out of nowhere. But somehow, when he read "Inkheart," his wife Resa got sucked into its pages, and in her place, the fire-juggler Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) arrived. This is something Mo has never told his 12-year-old daughter, Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett); despite being a bright, inquisitive young lady, she's unquestioningly been functioning under the false impression that mom just took off when she was an infant. Dad's never told her the truth - until now. Because that's good parenting.

Anyway, Mo wants to read Resa back into reality, but the other "Inkheart" characters, led by a snarling Andy Serkis as the villainous Capricorn, quite like it out here and don't want to return to the book. Which raises the question: If you read somebody out of a book, aren't they out for all of eternity, therefore preventing future readers from enjoying their stories?

The presence of esteemed actors like Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent briefly livens up these confusing proceedings, but mostly it's just embarrassing watching them lower themselves into such a ridiculous scenario.