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An orphaned young French boy, known as Champion, lives a lonely existence until his spunky, club-footed grandmother, Madame Souza, discovers his passion for bicycles and buys him one. Years later, with Madame Souza as his relentless coach, Champion races the Tour de France but, during the race, he is kidnapped by a pair of shifty men in black and taken across the ocean to the vast city of Belleville for nefarious reasons. Of course, the rotters have failed to take into account the grim determination of Madame Souza to find and retrieve Champion as she, aided with her faithful dog Bruno, set out in pursuit.

This is the set-up one of the most utterly beguiling and charming films in recent memory, the animated French fantasy "The Triplets of Belleville". To spend more time discussing the plot would spoil many of the surprises to come-I leave for you to discover what the bad guys need Champion for and how a long-retired 1930’s vaudeville act (the inspiration for the title) come to aid Madame Souza in her rescue attempt. Utilizing a bold visual style equally reminiscent of Max Fleischer and Terry Gilliam and an eye for silent character-based comedy straight from Chaplin and Tati, director Sylvain Chomet has created a film that works both as an eye-popping visual extravaganza and as a simple human comedy. Don’t be put off by the art-house release or the fact that it is in French (actually, the film is almost entirely silent)-this is the perfect film of the season for a family outing and yes, I would even go so far as to say that it beats even "Finding Nemo" as the animated film of the year.

PG-13. Written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. Starring the voices of Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin and Monica Viegas.

I am fully aware that the story of "Peter Pan" (and I am referring to the original J.M. Barrie book, not the watered-down Disney version) is a smorgasbord of psychosexual symbolism (the story is, after all, basically a metaphor of the fear that children on the cusp of adolescence go through when they begin to grow up both physically and emotionally), but even so, P.J. Hogan’s live-action adaptation of the tale is a bit startling. This isn’t to suggest that the film is a kinky reinvention along the lines of Anne Rice’s porno rewrites of "Sleeping Beauty", but the clear romantic attraction between Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter) and Wendy (an impressive debut performance from Rachel Hurd Wood that will make her the new crush of young boys everywhere) is upfront enough that parents may want to prepare themselves to answer certain questions. Then again, they may forget those questions because some of the other imagery-specifically a group of deadly mermaids and the ravenous crocodile on the hunt for Pan’s nemesis, the infamous Captain Hook (Jason Issacs, quite good as both Hook and as Wendy’s addled father)-may prove to be old-fashioned nightmare fuel for more impressionable kids.

Beyond that, "Peter Pan" is a cheerful and energetic rendition of the classic story that is far more entertaining than that "Hook" monstrosity. After an awkward opening reel (which is too noisy and frantic for its own good), Hogan settles down and comes up with a take on the tale that will enchant the kids and keep the grown-ups interested as well. Of course, it will no doubt be easier to get fathers and older brothers to go along when they learn that the role of Tinker Bell has been given to Ludivine Sagnier, the French actress who turned heads and raised temperatures earlier this year in "Swimming Pool". As the possessive Tink, who becomes insanely jealous when Peter begins to turn his attentions to Wendy, her mean-spiritedness is hilarious to behold and, on a less noble plane, she is sexy enough to make anyone of the proper age believe in fairies.

Rated PG. Written by P.J. Hogan & Michael Goldenberg. Directed by P.J. Hogan. Starring Jeremy Sumpter, Jason Issacs, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Olivia Williams and Ludivine Sagnier.

Competing for Most Depressing Film of the Season honors with such things as "21 Grams" and "Cheaper By the Dozen", "House of Sand and Fog" is a powerful, strongly acted drama that is so wounding and painful to watch that most audiences will simply find it too much to bear. The story follows the battle of wills between two parties determined to claim possession of an otherwise nondescript beachfront bungalow. One of them is the former owner, Kathy Nicola (Jennifer Connelly), who lost it when it was seized over the non-payment of a $500 tax that she didn’t owe in the first place. The other is Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), a former Colonel in the Iranian Air Force who, after fleeing to America with his family, buys the house at a tax auction in order to fix it up and resell it at a profit. Kathy wants her house back but Behrani want give it up without getting a fair price for it. Add Kathy’s new boyfriend to the mix, a police officer (Ron Eldard) who uses his position to harass Behrani’s family, and the stage is set for an all-but-inevitable tragedy or two.

Adapted from the novel by Andre Dubus III (whose work also inspired the similarly cheery "In the Bedroom") by first-time writer-director Vadim Perelman, "House of Sand and Fog" could have easily been transformed into a standard good-versus-evil melodrama and one of the most compelling things about the film is the way that it resists painting things in black-and-white, preferring to paint its characters in several shades of grey. Sure, Kathy got a bum deal but, we learn, it was a deal that she could have easily averted. As for Behrani, he rightly points out that it wasn’t his fault that she lost her house-he bought it fair and square. The balanced portrayal of both sides of the story (aided by standout performances by Connelly, Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Behrani’s good-hearted wife) helps keep things on track even when the chain of events grows more and more melodramatic. The relentless gloom of the proceedings may prove to be too much for some but those who can look past it will discover an unusually smart and moving melodrama about how a tunnel-visioned sense of self-righteousness can lead to self-destruction in the end.

RATED R. Written and directed by Vadim Perelman. Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ron Eldard.

With its long, largely silent takes and its gorgeous photography, the original 1979 film "The Black Stallion", one of the greatest of all childrens movies, was like an IMAX movie before its time. Therefore, it seems a bit odd that "The Young Black Stallion", a prequel made specifically in the large-screen format, should turn out to be so uninteresting. The story is pretty much the same as before-a young child (this time a girl, played by Biana Tamimi) gets lost in the North African desert and comes across a young stallion that helps save her life. After she is reunited with her now-destitute uncle, she decides to enter the fast-running horse in a race among all the local tribes in order to help restore the family fortunes. No guesses as to how it ends-although I think that in real life, the tribesmen would be less than accepting over the notion of a 12-year-old girl entering the race in the first place, let alone beating them. The film is pretty to look at, I suppose, but there is absolutely nothing memorable about-certainly nothing to compare with the original film. I have seen that film many times over the years and every time I do, all the children in the audience have been entranced. Even though "The Young Black Stallion" is only 40 minutes long, I am predicting that there will be a lot of restless kids (and adults) fidgeting in their seats long before the ending.

RATED G. Written by Jeanne Rosenberg. Directed by Simon Wincer. Starring Richard Romanus, Biana Tamimi, Patrick Elyas and Gerard Rudolf.

"The Girl With a Pearl Earring" is, of course, inspired by the famous Johannes Vermeer painting (though it is technically based on the book by Tracy Chevalier) and, thanks to the masterful work of cinematographer Eduardo Serra, the film looks exactly like a Vermeer painting. Unfortunately, thanks to the leaden direction by Peter Webber, the film moves like a Vermeer painting as well. Chronicling the odd relationship between Vermeer (Colin Firth) and Griet (Scarlett Johansson), the poor maid employed by Vermeer who becomes his confidant and muse, much to the chagrin of his upwardly mobile family. There is nothing especially wrong with the film but there is never anything right with it either-it just drags along as Firth and Johansson endlessly (even at 99 minutes, the film feels like an eternity) exchange meaningful glances without ever working up any sort of chemistry and matters aren’t helped by the fact that the basic story is quite similar to Johansson’s other film in release, the wonderful "Lost in Translation". Once again, she plays a wide-eyed gal who reignites the flames of inspiration in a tired old man-sadly, she is unable to do the same for the film.

RATED PG-13. Written by Olivia Hetreed. Directed by Peter Webber. Starring Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Wilkinson and Cillan Murphy.

If you have never seen Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 masterpiece "Modern Times" before, the re-release gradually playing across the country is your chance to see one of the greatest comedies ever made on the big screen. If you have seen it before, you probably have never seen it looking this beautiful-the film has been restored and new prints, created for the recent DVD release, have been struck for the engagements. Of course, even the muddiest dupe copies would hardly mar Chaplin’s achievement, a giddy satire of the dehumanizing aspects of the modern era and how two tiny cogs in the giant assembly line of life-a factory worker driven crazy by the machines around him (Chaplin) and a dewy young orphan running from the juvenile authorities (the impossibly gorgeous Paulette Goddard)-team up to face their otherwise bleak surroundings. The film contains too many classic sequences to mention (the most famous being the bit in which Chaplin gets sucked into the gears of an enormous factory machine) and the relationship between Chaplin and Goddard (who were then a couple in real life) is so touching that you can almost overlook the notion of an adult male shacking up with an underage girl. Watching this movie again serves as both a blissful reminder of the glories that can be achieved by the art of film and a depressing reminder of just how far most films fail to reach those heights.

Unrated (Suitable for all). Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard.

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.