'Coraline' Review: Somewhere Between a Gorgeous Kid Flick and a European Arthouse Picture

Henry Seleck's animated film returns to movie theaters, just in time to save the summer.

As you may have heard, Chick-Fil-A is planning to launch its own streaming service, with the goal of creating "family-friendly shows, particularly in the unscripted space." 

As it happens, I avoid watching reality shows like the plague, mostly because the participants tend to act like young children, only with cursing and attempted fornication. I don't need any brats in my life, thank you very much, though if they're entirely contained to a streaming service, that would be fine with me. 

If you are able to get out to a movie theater, and don't want to watch a remake of The Crow or see Channing Tatum in Blink Twice, may I suggest an alternative? Henry Selick's Coraline is celebrating its 15th anniversary and its limited run has been extended through August 29, and maybe into early September. Visit the official site to find locations and purchase tickets. 

If you're wondering: what is Coraline and why should I care? Here's my original review from 2009, which has been slightly edited for length and content.

Happily and firmly planted in middle-aged bachelorhood with no children of my own, I'm the last person you should trust when it comes to recommending movies for kids, but I wish Coraline was the first movie I saw in a real live cinema, rather than Bambi.

Both movies have mother issues, yet it's Coraline that feels more true and authentic to my pre-teen years.

Somewhere between a gorgeous kid flick and a European arthouse picture, Coraline is not terribly interested in narrative storytelling. Like its intensely curious title character, the latest fantasy from Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) is much more apt to be distracted by the playful creatures and constantly-changing landscapes of the dreamy, sometimes surreal world it inhabits than anything so mundane as real-world concerns or episodes that move the plot forward rather than sideways. 

That makes Coraline immensely appealing as a clear-eyed, almost entirely safe fairy tale, as long as you're not in any kind of a hurry. Whatever Coraline lacks in dramatic tension, it more than makes up for with its richly observed atmosphere, filled with small, delightful details and recognizably child-like behavior. The side trips that it takes are spent on eccentric characters and ultimately pay off in the grander scheme of things.

As a 3-D movie, it's far more restrained than I would have anticipated. Rather than concentrate on amping up an otherwise middling picture with regular jolts of "gotcha" effects, Selick uses 3-D to deepen the experience and try and convey the sense of wonder involved in the film's storybook world. Yes, there are several moments when objects fly off the screen, seemingly into the viewer's face, but these are kept to a minimum. 

It's perhaps an odd combination to have stop-motion animated in 3-D, but it looks splendid, and aficionados of stop-motion will have a field day. The press notes inform that two years were taken in pre-production and shooting took another 18 months.

Oh, yes, the plot. (See, I'm easily distracted, just like the movie.) Coraline (Dakota Fanning) is bored. Her mother (Teri Hatcher) and father (John Hodgman) have recently moved the family to a run-down apartment in the rurals, and Coraline is running out of things to do while her parents are fully-occupied writing and editing a garden supply catalog. The only other kid around is  Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.), a too-talkative boy -- ** ick! ** -- and the neighbors are kinda weird, whether you're talking about the spinster sisters / former entertainers Miss Spink (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Forcible (Dawn French) or the acrobatically-inclined Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane).

Coraline discovers a small, locked trap door in the living room wall that opens up to nothing but bricks. But one night she unlocks the door, climbs through a weird passage, and emerges in an alternate version of her apartment, her mother, her father, and even the wandering cat -- who talks! (Keith David) In the alternate world, her parents have time for her, everything is just perfect, exactly as she dreamed it should be. Except for one odd thing: her Other Mother has buttons for eyes, and suggests softly yet strongly that Coraline can stay forever in the wonderful, alternate, perfect world ... as long as she too replaces her eyes with buttons.

Coraline may be dreamy and distracted, but she's not stupid, and it becomes a battle between good and evil, real life and the fantasy world of a child.

The voice acting is quite good. I didn't check the casting before the screening, so the only voices I recognized were the rich, charming, and deep vocals of Keith David and Ian McShane. Teri Hatcher handles her voice work with aplomb, as do Dakota Fanning and John Hodgman (forever known, I suppose, as the "PC Guy" in those "Apple vs. PC" TV commercials). 

Coraline (the movie as well as the character) is never in much of a rush, even when in serious danger, and that could be a dividing point. The total running time clocks in at 100 minutes, and the pace admittedly dawdles. For me, that was part of the charm. For you and your children, it might be a different story, though it's hard to imagine little ones who endlessly watch the same movie over and over again -- back to back to back, at that -- would be bored by Coraline. 

As a further reference point, the film is more James and the Giant Peach than The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Lastly, I should acknowledge that I've avoided mentioning Neil Gaiman's book that serves as the source material for the film because I've never read it (for shame!), so I have no idea if it lives up to expectations on that score.