Matilda Directed by Danny DeVito Starring Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Pam Ferris Love the movie? Read Matilda, the book! A L S O_.T O D A Y Blue Glow First reindeer sighting of the season: Classic "Rudolph" gets its annual airing Now Showing New video releases for Dec. 1 R E C E N T_. M O V I E S "A Bug's Life" Reviewed by Janelle Brown With it's much-anticipated follow-up to "Toy Story," Pixar conquers in the animated bug battle (11/25/98) "Home Fries" Reviewed by Charles Taylor Drew Barrymore is sweet as cherry pie as a pregnant burger-joint clerk in this charming screwball comedy (11/25/98) "Storefront Hitchcock" Reviewed by Mark Athitakis Jonathan Demme's mesmerizing documentary brings an unlikely pop singer to the silver screen (11/25/98) "Babe: Pig in the City" Reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek The urban adventures of everyone's favorite talking pig makes for one of the most exhilarating films of the year (11/25/98) Living Out Loud Reviewed by Charles Taylor Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito nearly find love in Richard LaGravenese's bittersweet comedy (11/13/98) BROWSE THE MOVIE ARCHIVES COLUMNS FEATURES REVIEWS INTERVIEWS S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.

-------[ H O M E_.M O V I E S_.B Y_.C H A R L E S_.T A Y L O R ]___ Danny DeVito directs a smart, funny fantasy for kids (and former kids) who love to read. "So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone." With those words and the image of a little girl pulling a red wagon full of library books, I fall for "Matilda." Every time. Hard. And I can't imagine any kids (or former kids) who've ever felt that books were their friends not falling too. When people talk about the joys of reading, the result is too often something like Anne Fadiman's new collection of essays, "Ex Libris," the rarefied musings of someone who has made books their universe instead of a passageway to the real world. "Matilda," Danny DeVito's wonderful film of Roald Dahl's children's story, never supposes that books can be a substitute for people, although at first they're a refuge for its young heroine. "Matilda" is the story of a little girl (Mara Wilson, who's wide-eyed and canny at the same time) born to parents who don't want her. Her father, Harry Wormwood (DeVito), is a used-car salesman who delights in swindling his customers. Her mother, Zinnia (Rhea Perlman), is a peroxided tootsie who spends her days playing bingo. They don't see the signs that their daughter is a budding genius and wouldn't care if they did. So Matilda learns to take care of herself and build her own life (as much of a life as a 6-and-a-half-year-old can build), devouring every book she can get her hands on. When she's finally allowed to attend school, Matilda finds a friend and protector in her teacher, Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz), who recognizes Matilda for the remarkable child she is. But they both have to defeat the school's evil principal, Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris, padded and hook-nosed and irresistibly villainous). A military-suited sadist, the Trunchbull, as she's called, refers to her charges as "stinking little pustules" (among other endearments) and doesn't hesitate to display her skills as a former Olympic hammer thrower by picking them up and tossing them out windows or over fences. "Matilda" neatly reverses the fretting that still goes on about how books can put ideas in a kid's head. Books put lots of ideas in Matilda's head -- courage, self-sufficiency, a sense of fairness, to name a few -- which she draws on (along with some other, special powers) to defeat the bullies who are the movie's bad guys. (Some of those bullies are parents and teachers; the movie says there's no reason to respect authority that doesn't respect you.) A little knowledge is a dangerous thing in "Matilda," and that's just cool. Kids love Dahl for the very thing that drives some parents to distraction: his nastiness. Dahl cut right through the treacly glop that's often served up to children. He wasn't all snakes and snails and puppy-dog's tails; he simply recognized that sugar and spice and everything nice and nothing else got awfully icky awfully fast. There are moments in Dahl's books as heartwarming as any in children's literature (like Matilda's excitement over reading "The Secret Garden" for the first time, or the scenes where she finds a new home with Miss Honey). But he didn't turn the other cheek when it came to people who, out of stupidity or greed or meanness, made life hell for children. Part of what I think kids respond to in Dahl is his instinctive sense of justice and the message this film attributes to the writers who connect with us: You are not alone. (DeVito also includes a lovely tribute to the author: The portrait of Miss Honey's beloved father is based on a photo of the young Dahl.) The broad, in-your-face directing style (slightly modulated here) that DeVito used to wearying effect in his previous comedies -- "Throw Momma from the Train" and "The War of the Roses" -- turns out to be perfect for translating Dahl's grotesquerie to the screen. "Matilda" was quickly relegated to afternoon matinees when it was released in 1996. Really, though, it's a small classic waiting to be discovered -- not just a great kids' movie, but a thoroughly original and beguiling film comedy. Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord's adaptation moves the story to America, and Harry and Zinnia Wormwood become the apotheosis of middle-class bad taste. There's no snobbery in the film's approach. DeVito revels in production designer Bill Brzeski's rendering of Chez Wormwood, all clashing colors and garish gewgaws (my favorite is an alarm clock ringed in casino dice). This is a place where every meal seems to be eaten on a TV tray. It's fitting that Matilda's favorite writer is Charles Dickens, because "Matilda" takes something of the same delight in its caricatured grotesques. As Harry, the used-car salesman of your nightmares, DeVito exudes an unshakable belief in the uselessness of any knowledge he hasn't already acquired. And as Zinnia, Perlman is a giggly, whiny delight, the type of gal whose idea of class is to sip her Bud Light through a flexi-straw. We're in a skewed cartoon universe here. When Trunchbull picks up timid, squeaky-voiced little towhead Amanda Thripp (Jacqueline Steiger), she whirls her around and around by her pigtails to build up speed before letting her go; the tyke sails through the air, just missing the spiky tops of an iron fence before coming to a skidding stop in a field of flowers, waving a bouquet like a victory banner to great cheers from her classmates. And in contrast, there is the country idyll shared by Matilda and Miss Honey (the dream teacher every child longs for) in her little cottage. There are the delightfully old-fashioned names of Matilda's best chums, Hortensia and Lavender. Most of all, in the midst of all the chaos, like a little oasis of calm and reason and common sense, there's Wilson's Matilda. Her matter-of-fact demeanor gives you the feeling that she's processing everything, that her brain is hungry for use. She's a heroine not only because she's good and kind but because she's smart, and because her smartness expresses itself as courage. Every command directed at Matilda produces the question "Why?" and if no good reason is forthcoming, neither is her obedience. That's a sweetly subversive idea for a children's movie -- knowledge as a tool, not to lead a child to meekly accept her place in the world, but to make her question it. At the end of the movie Matilda has her nose in another book, and among the last words we hear her say are "Call me Ishmael." In other words, this end is another beginning, with Matilda waiting to see where the next story will lead her. Perhaps, like the books she loves, out into the world, like a ship on the sea. SALON | Nov. 30, 1998 Charles Taylor is a regular contributor to Salon. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C O M I N G_S O O N [ New releases available Dec. 1 ] Sliding Doors The Mask of Zorro Go Now Almost Heroes [ New releases available Dec. 8 ] Six Days, Seven Nights Sour Grapes La Promesse Lawn Dogs The Ugly The Parent Trap