See It at the Movies

PADDINGTON

with Joyce & Don Fowler
Posted 1/22/15

* * * *

(Delightful British bear tale)

Watching “Paddington” with a full house of young children and their parents is a delightful experience.

The popular children’s book on which it …

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See It at the Movies

PADDINGTON

Posted

* * * *

(Delightful British bear tale)

Watching “Paddington” with a full house of young children and their parents is a delightful experience.

The popular children’s book on which it was based is given a wonderful interpretation in the hour and a half movie...just long enough to hold the kids’ interests.

Ben Whishaw is the voice of the little bear who has been forced by nature from his home in Peru, arriving in London to find his old explorer friend.

The movie opens with a black and white documentary by the explorer, showing the rare bears in their natural environment, making marmalade from the surrounding orange trees.

Paddington arrives in London, finding that the Brits weren’t as friendly as he had been led to believe. He is taken home by the Brown family, where the gruff Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville), a stone-hearted risk manager, points out the dangers of having a bear in the house.

Paddington doesn’t disappoint him as he wrecks the bathroom, a scene that has been shown frequently in theatre and TV trailers and still is funny seeing it again. Mrs. Brown and her young son and daughter fall in love with Paddington and want to keep him, but Mr. Brown takes up the task of searching for the explorer.

Meanwhile, Paddington gets himself into all sorts of predicaments, much to the delight of the young audience. To thicken the plot, there is the villainous taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) who wants to add Paddington to her museum collection.

It’s all fun and games, with lots of action for the kids, enough British humor to keep the parents entertained, and some great messages about it being OK to be different.

Rated PG, with nothing to worry about, except for that kid who kept screaming every time Paddington found himself in precarious positions.

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