The Fox and The Child (U)

Aug 7 2008

**

LUC Jacquet, director of the Oscar-winning March Of The Penguins, has based this story on his childhood in the French alps.

It’s even more sentimental than his Antarctic film, less wildlife documentary and more syrupy sweet story about a girl’s friendship with a fox.

Kate Winslet provides the voiceover while young actress Bertille Noel-Bruneau is the unnamed, flame-haired girl who befriends a wild fox and unwisely tries to tame it. The violent consequences may upset some of the audience.

The fabulous cinematography has some lovely shots of animals like otters, hedgehogs, wolves, badgers and a bear.

But the storyline is very thin, the sloooow scenes get repetitive and much of the narration is superfluous. Youngsters will be fidgeting long before the end.