SnoopyStyle
Adapted from the 1952 book, this is the latest version of this classic. This was a BBC TV production, and as such is limited in its scale. The borrowers are secretive little tiny people that live under the floorboards. This one stars Christopher Eccleston, Robert Sheehan, Stephen Fry, among others. Aisling Loftus plays the lead Arrietty Clock. She's a sweet girl most notable for her big eyes. All the actors in the movie do a fine job. While the lower production value is understandable, it is still distracting. All in all, it's a nice little family movie.
Yuki
The Borrowers is the latest film adaptation of the famous book series by Mary Norton and this time it's received a 21st century makeover. It tells the story of the Clocks, a family of little people who live beneath the floorboards of a recession-hit house, owned by an eccentric grandmother (Wood) and her grandson, James (Hiscock). The Clocks survive thanks to Pod (Eccleston), who goes on expeditions to "borrow" (i.e. steal) food and other items at night, or while the house is empty. He lives with his wife, Homily (Horgan) and his daughter, Arrietty (Loftus), who he is extremely protective of. But the adventurous Arrietty resents being kept underground and one night decides to sneak out on her own, only to be discovered by James, who she quickly becomes friends with. Unfortunately, they later attract the attention of James's grandmother and subsequently that of the villainous Professor Mildeye (Fry), who is convinced that the Borrowers exist and believes that capturing them will make him famous.The main thing that bothered me about this film was the casting. While it makes sense to recruit well known actors, it doesn't follow that simply loading a film with famous names is going to result in a successful production. Eccleston's talents, for instance, seem to be a bit wasted in his role as Pod and he's never really given much chance to shine. Robert Sheehan seemed to be playing a carbon copy of that irritating "Mutt" character from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (complete with motorcycle and leather jacket), which I thought was a bad move, and watching Sheehan struggling to describe his character during a TV interview didn't exactly inspire confidence, either. Aisling Loftus was probably the biggest miscast of the film and her performance border-lined on embarrassing – she looks too old to be playing Arrietty, and her character ended up looking and sounding more like a mentally-challenged adult than a kid; the expressions of excitement and wide-eyed wonder that look appropriate on the face of a child don't quite look right on the face of a woman in her twenties. But having said that, Victoria Wood played a good part and Stephen Fry brought with him his unique, show-stealing brand of wit.The story itself was passable, although the idea that an adventurous sixteen year old who has spent her entire life living in a small area beneath the floorboards has never tried to sneak outside before strains credibility somewhat, especially when "outside" is so easily accessible. The humour is pretty thin on the ground and mostly aimed at kids, which is fair enough, but the romance (featuring another Borrower named Spiller (Sheehan) who Arrietty meets later in the film) seemed rather perfunctory and should have been left out altogether. It's not like the two characters make a very convincing match anyway. Also, Spiller's sudden appearance when Arrietty is in trouble, as well as his off-screen escape at the end smacked of deus ex machina. Overall, the production values left a lot to be desired, ranging from sudden accent changes to the green screen compositing, which in some scenes was pretty awful. The characterisation was a little clumsy in places too, such as the part where Pod and Homily stand around talking about which personality traits Arrietty has inherited from who. She's clever and courageous, apparently – or so her mother says. How she knows this when she's been kept inside a small room her entire life is a mystery. But then again, we don't see much evidence of it when she's not under the floorboards, either. The rescue plan, for instance, seems to have been James's idea, with Arrietty and Spiller just along for the ride. It's a classic example of too much telling and not enough showing.Ultimately, despite being watchable, there was too much about the latest incarnation of The Borrowers that just didn't measure up.
eve_dolluk
I watched this on Boxing day in the UK on BBC catchup and was pleasantly surprised.I wasn't expecting much after watching some of the other made for TV productions around Xmas although this did have Stephen Fry and Christopher Eccleston in it who I do enjoy watching. Eccleston takes a back seat in a lot of the film as the over protective father " Pod Clock" and the focus is on Aisling Loftus who plays the daughter " Arrietty Clock " who has lived a rather restricted life inside the family home.The Borrowers share their home ( in the floorboards ) with Mrs Driver ( Victoria Wood ) who's daughter has recently died. Her Grandson ( James ) and son in law ( Robert ) are now living with her because the son in law is struggling for work.The story really starts when Arrietty decides to venture out at night on her own and forms a friendship with the young Grandson James just before Christmas. Unfortunately for the Clock family of borrowers Mrs Driver is suspicious of what is going on in the house and decides to investigate further.Visually the film was excellent and they chose to use actual large size props rather than CGI to recreate the large world surrounding the Borrowers. This made the whole thing seem very real and I am sure kids will enjoy that fact ( as well as adults ). Overall the film was very well acted but the spotlight was clearly on Aisling Loftus playing Arrietty as the innocent young woman exploring a whole new world she has never seen before and coming from rather a spoilt background. She has appeared in a few British Drama's before but for me this was my favourite role I have seen her in.If you did miss this Film on Boxing day then please check it out on BBCi player and for those outside of the UK I hope it appears on Syfy or a similar channel available to you soon.
lizwilder_1234
I haven't read the books, but this was certainly a pleasure to watch. The story was great for kids, and even adults and teenagers will have a laugh at the more sly yet subtle jokes that manage to make it even great than it is. There could have been a bit more content, and it did feel slightly rushed, but i think that this TV film really was something that I'd recommend to watch with family. Robert Sheehan, Christopher Eccelston and Stephen Fry all brought laughter to 'The Borrowers' and the cast couldn't have been any better. It was certainly great to see Robert's 'Misfits' type of character be involved in this, only less crude. The special effects are incredibly clever and well placed, the story is easy to understand and is quite simple and it's just a great watch! A must see TV film!
