THE STORY – Mildred, a precocious eleven-year-old bookworm, escapes her humdrum existence by immersing herself in novels where literary adventures abound, with a long-dreamed quest to capture proof of a mythological beast known as The Canterbury Panther. When an unusual accident occurs, Mildred’s long absent father Strawn Wise, a washed-up illusionist, flies to New Zealand to look after a daughter he’s never met. When they agree to go camping despite neither being the outdoorsy type, this ultimate test in family bonding leads the duo on a string of increasingly absurd and treacherous adventures.
THE CAST – Elijah Wood, Nell Fisher & Michael Smiley
THE TEAM – Ant Timpson (Director/Writer) & Toby Harvard (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 97 Minutes
“The Goonies.” “Jumanji.” “Spy Kids.” Some of the most memorable childhood movie nights were those spent with parents watching a good old PG-rated family adventure film. Those feel like few and far between these days, especially non-Disney creations that can charm both children and adults. Ant Timpson’s “Bookworm” aims to do just that – and it does so successfully. The Fantasia International Film Festival’s charming opening night film sees the director Ant Timpson and writer Toby Harvard reunite for their second feature following 2019’s horror film, “Come to Daddy,” starring Elijah Wood, who returns here for their sophomore feature. Many will watch “Bookworm” and think of “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.” The latter sees a boy and his foster father get stranded in the New Zealand wilderness. Likewise, “Bookworm” sees another father and a child pairing in this same wilderness but in vastly different circumstances. Comparisons to other family adventure films will surely occur throughout, and while “Bookworm” isn’t one of the best of its genre, it’s still so fun and heartfelt.
Elijah Wood finds himself back in New Zealand in search of something. While he’s no longer on a quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, this journey proves to be just as challenging. He takes on the role of Strawn, a washed-up illusionist who flies halfway across the world to take care of the daughter he has never met. His daughter, Mildred (Nell Fisher), could not be more unimpressed by this arrangement, especially when he tries to break the ice with magic tricks. Before Strawn arrived, she was planning a camping trip with her mother to capture the first-ever footage of the country’s lone Canterbury Panther. It becomes quickly apparent that Mildred is no ordinary child. Endearing in her fearlessness and quick wit, she’s a self-described card-carrying bookworm. She has a head full of knowledge and ambitions that most children don’t. She’s always wanted stuff of adventures and is frustrated that her mother treats her like a kid who can’t do all the things she wants to do. So, when her mother ends up in hospital, she finds a sense of relief in that – a feeling she’ll have to tackle later on – because now she can do whatever she wants.
Mildred refuses to let her mother’s accident dampen her plans, especially as the $50,000 reward for capturing footage of the panther would help her and her mother get out of the financial gutter. Now, with Strawn tagging along, this camping trip is about to have even more complications than just the possibility of being killed by a big cat. Throughout this journey, with its ups and downs, you begin to wonder if they’ll find real magic together, forming the father-daughter bond that Strawn hopes for. But it seems that any chance of Mildred calling Strawn “dad” is just as unlikely as Strawn doing a magic trick that will impress her.
On the technical side, “Bookworm” impresses. It makes the smart decision to go from a tight aspect ratio when we first meet Mildred to widescreen once she gets out in the wild. This perfectly illustrates her feeling of being confined, whether at home or school and how she feels more alive when she’s in the outdoors, taking on the adventures she reads endlessly about in books. In terms of those adventures, the setting is perfect for this as they traverse different landscapes to a score reminiscent of the Western genre. Like two cowboys in search of treasure, Mildred and Strawn find themselves getting into quite a few hairy situations – and every one of them is entertaining. The CGI can sometimes be hit or miss, and while the action sequences aren’t the best we’ve seen of the genre, the energy of feeling like we’re watching two cowboys who just robbed a train rarely lets up.
When this energy does dissipate, it’s in touching, heartwarming moments that capture how this relationship is evolving and how these characters are evolving as individuals. There can be a lot of tension between this father-daughter duo at times, but we slowly see them grow more comfortable with each other. It’s a weird dynamic to suddenly find yourself in, and Strawn is thrown into parenting in an unconventional way. This untraditional dynamic, the awkwardness it can create, and Wood’s Las Vegas illusionist being entirely out of his element bring a lot of humor to the piece. The camaraderie between Fisher and Wood carries the film and keeps us invested. The script has written two characters who couldn’t be more different but also characters who take on an interesting role reversal as the child is the one who has it all together, while the adult is the one who needs looking after. You can tell that Wood and Fisher are having so much fun here and they create some real magic as their characters go looking for it out in the world for themselves. Not only does the film become a relatable story about a misunderstood child, something we can all relate to having been one, but also how bravery can be defined in more ways than you often think.
