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Phoebe in Wonderland

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Daniel Barnz
Directed by: Daniel Barnz
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 6, 2009
DVD: June 23, 2009
Running Time: 96 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for thematic material and brief strong language
Starring Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Campbell Scott, and Bill Pullman
Phoebe in Wonderland, which recently had its world premiere at Sundance 2008 and is based on Daniel Barnz’s original screenplay, concerns a young girl who longs to be in her school’s production of "Alice in Wonderland." After being cast in the lead role of Alice by her eccentric drama teacher, Phoebe reveals a unique talent but, much like Alice herself, is increasingly at odds with the world around her and begins to retreat into a world of her imagination. Though her parents initially see their daughter’s unusual behavior as signs of creativity, they gradually realize that Phoebe is at risk of falling “through the looking glass.” (THINKFilm)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Phoebe in Wonderland happens to be at least partly a Lifetime movie, but this special little film is no disease-of-the-week tear-jerker.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge
The mesmerizing performance of Fanning as the gifted and troubled young Phoebe sparks the picture.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
There's too much "problem, solution" to Phoebe, although the movie's anxieties are believable enough to earns the moments of uplift. The film may be too concerned with being a crowd-pleaser, but it least it makes the crowd suffer a little along the way.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
There's an unconvincing warm, fuzzy happy ending, in which recognition is treated as cure and understanding heals all. But, until then, Phoebe in Wonderland is an involving and empathetic drama of mothers and daughters.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
It's a delicate, intelligent movie about modern parenthood and the pressures that children face, and it features a cast of talented actors who were clearly committed to the movie's message.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Let Clarkson and Fanning take you to the rabbit hole of seductive enchantment that defines this movie. And don't ask what to do -- jump.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
So realistic are Phoebe's quicksilver emotions that at first it doesn't seem Fanning is acting at all. That helps to ground the film, which swings seamlessly from the world of grown-up expectations to that of childhood reverie and rebellion.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Jamie Tipps
Director Daniel Barnz produces an enjoyable film that reminds us that imagination is a precious commodity which adults need to nurture by allowing kids to jump.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
Writer-director Daniel Barnz's film is profoundly stirring, if also occasionally maddening.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Phoebe in Wonderland gradually loses its grip on tone and believability, climaxing with a show-must-go-on moment that's just plain silly. Thankfully, Barnz knows exactly where to end his film: on the face of a girl, and an actress, at the crossroads.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Elle Fanning is wondrous in Phoebe in Wonderland. But the movie is an uneven, unfocused amalgamation of ideas and moods that is at times deeply moving nonetheless.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
Its fancifulness is at times too clunky, its pathos too strained. But Barnz has a secret weapon, one that's 4 feet tall and looks to weigh about 60 pounds: Elle Fanning.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
It's not only Phoebe whose daydreams go out of control. Daniel Barnz, the writer-director, also goes a bit flooey. There's a lot more perspiration than inspiration.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
As the school drama teacher who tries to unlock ''the real,'' Patricia Clarkson makes high theatrical solemnity funny.
Read Full Review >Variety Ronnie Scheib
Partly produced by Lifetime, the pic attempts to elevate the disease-of-the-week movie into a moral dialectic between conformity and imagination.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Think of Phoebe in Wonderland as "A Beautiful Mind," only for kids. And with Elle Fanning, Dakota's little sister, in the Russell Crowe role of the gifted outsider, tormented by demons within.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
So much of this irritating film from first-time writer-director Daniel Barnz feels like a writing exercise it's amazing Elle Fanning, in the title role, comes off as well as she does.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Not even she (Patricia Clarkson), however, can save a movie that suffers from terminal self-enchantment.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
There are problems for us as well in Wonderland. Like its main characters, the film is having an identity crisis -- is it a parable for adults or a fable for children? Its childlike whimsy doesn't always fit with its very grown-up themes.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Soon after that the movie simply stops dead in its tracks, as though the money had run out and the project had been called off in the middle of a scene that makes no psychological or dramatic sense. It leaves you frustrated and annoyed.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H gave it a5:
Somber story, very well acted, especially by Elle Fanning. It's not a pleasant movie to view, but the production is professional. It's unique but curiously unmemorable, although it does have some painfully slow moving sections.
Martha L. gave it a10:
I cried, I laughed, I empathized. What more could I hope for?
Sebastian H. gave it a10:
The subject of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland have been explored many times. This, for me, is the best film I've ever seen revolved around the Wonderland universe. The fact that the writing manages to take something that could easily be funny (such as calling a stranger fat) and making it into a very serious and unfunny moment, yet still retaining it's innocence, is astonishing. Despite all the things wrong with Phoebe, and her sadness throughout the film, I did not feel pity for her, I just simply watched this little girl struggle with her emotions and OCD, then see her shine in front of the drama class. Her over looked friend Jamie is also a very important counter piece to Phoebe. While Phoebe dislikes her uniqueness, and wants to be accepted, Jamie is the exact opposite. He is comfortable with his sexuality and isn't afraid of what the other kids think of him. His bravery to audition (and land) the role of the Red Queen shows bravery that most adults would not be able to overcome. Unfortunately the parents are the my least favorite part of the film. Although they are crucial, I just don't care for them. The mother seems to be obsessed, yet emotionally distant from her daughters, and the father might as well be invisible. However both of them do turn around in the end, and grow into actual caring parents. Now to another important character, the eccentric drama teacher. Towards the beginning she seemed a bit cliché, however her nurturing and quirky personality, really identified with Phoebe, and her methods of handling quarrels within the drama class were beautiful, caring, and truly worked. This all leads to the ultimate element that could make or break a film. The acting. Although the acting was superb as a whole, Elle Fanning really does carry this movie. For a child to pull off the complex emotions Phoebe was going through just goes to show the promise that Elle has.
Suzanne T. gave it an8:
Great little movie. Intelligent and beautifully acted.
Jasmine R. gave it a10:
Intriguing, provocative, high quality character driven story!
