by JG Hanks
Staff
What can an animated film about a fox and his mid life crisis teach us about our own lives? Plenty. With a playful patois all its own (of which still has my daughter asking anyone within earshot “Are you cussing with me?”) and grown up lessons underlying a colorful, childlike brilliance of a film, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a winner for the whole family.
Mr. Fox (George Clooney) was once primarily a squab hunter (and champion whack bat player), but after his wife Felicity (Meryl Streep) becomes pregnant, his life (like many fathers before him) drastically changes. Forward 2 years (twelve fox years) and despite having a decent job writing an article for the local paper, Mr. Fox yearns to return to his wild animal days and also imagines a greater life for himself living above ground. His son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) idolizes a comic book character named White Cape and takes to wearing a cape himself along with tucking his pants into his socks. Needless to say, Ash is a little different. As with many other kids his age, he desperately wants to win his father’s approval, but Mr. Fox is too pre-occupied with his Master Plan; couple that with cousin Kristofferson’s (Eric Chase Anderson) mastery of almost everything he tries and Ash is left a little despondent.
After going against his lawyer Badger’s (Bill Murray) sound advice and purchasing a tree in a very dangerous area for a creature of his species, but more importantly within view of the farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean’s facilities (the targets of his Master Plan), Mr. Fox sets out to begin his three part heist and re-capture a little bit of his prior youthful abandonment. Foregoing the promise he made to his wife twelve years prior, as well as bringing his nephew in on the plan (further alienating his son), Mr. Fox incites the ire of all three farmers who set out to capture him at any cost. Because of his insistence on pursuing his animalistic instincts, Mr. Fox puts himself, his family and every other animal in the vicinity in danger.
After being emasculated, forced to think about and put others before himself (and a lot of self discovery) and finally realizing he doesn’t always have the answers, Mr. Fox sets out to redeem himself for his wrongdoings. Ultimately, he wins back the affections of his wife, discovers the importance of being a father and husband and gains the realization that we never lose our primal urges or ultimately the things that make us who we are. Hopefully for most of us, we just evolve enough as people (or animals) to be able to live with them and not against them.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is a tale that so many of us have experienced firsthand: growing up isn’t always easy and responsibility is sometimes disheartening. As another film character once said (Hellboy), “What makes a man a man? It’s the choices he makes. Not how he starts things but how he finishes them.” So what is it exactly that we can learn from a fox? To put it simply: take things as they come, expect the unexpected and being different is ok. We all are.
Rated PG for action, smoking and slang humor
