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Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott ... see more see more... , Peter Gerety

Felicity Huffman, Elle Fanning, and Patricia Clarkson star in director/screenwriter Daniel Barnz's illuminating tale of parenting and growth concerning an exceptional young girl whose troubling retrea... read more read more...t into fantasy draws the concern of both her dejected mother and her unusually perceptive drama teacher. Phoebe (Fanning) is a talented young student who longs to take part in the school production of Alice in Wonderland, but whose bizarre behavior sets her well apart from her carefree classmates. Her mother (Huffman) is an aspiring academic who is beginning to feel like she has not only failed in her professional career, but as a parent as well. Though Phoebe's gifted drama teacher (Clarkson) has no doubts about the young girl's talent and capacity for learning, the frustration of seeing such a promising student slowly slip ever further away from reality soon becomes a growing concern both at home and at school. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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67% liked it

31,939 ratings

Critics

59% liked it

51 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 36 min.

Directed by: Daniel Barnz

Release Date: March 6, 2009

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DVD Release Date: June 23, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (570)

  • MissMorganLeee
    January 8, 2011
    MissMorganLeee
    This is NOT a childrens' movies. Don't go to Red-Box see the cover and think "O how sweet! A new Alice in Wonderland with Dakota Fannings' little sister!" That is a falsehood! Bad adevertising. Let me tell you what this movie is actually about. Phoepe (fanning) Has always had tr... read moreouble following the rules and was always told by her mother that being different is a good thing. As she enters 3rd grade (i think) she finds following the rules harder than usual. Spitting on her classmates and yelling out whatever she thinks. He Mother (Huffman) is attempting to write a book on Lewis Carol and his infamous book, but finds starting the book hard while dealing with two extremely immaginatve young girls and an unsupporting husband. Phoebe finds refuge in her class play Alice in Wonderland where she is cast in the title role. She befriends her director, wonderfully played by Patricia Clarkson. But as her parents push her farther into therapy and trying to understand their daughters unruliness, Phoebe goes further down the rabbit whole and further away from reality. This is definitely a PARENTS movie. I really enjoyed it. The performances are raw and believable. A bit long but it had good closure to the ending.
  • theylovealexis
    December 6, 2010
    theylovealexis
    This wasn't the movie I wanted it to be. It's about a troubled girl who finds her school's production of Alice In Wonderland, which ends up becoming a strain on her sister and her parents. I don't know what the point of it was, it was just a tough movie with not much cute.
  • paulsandberg
    September 15, 2010
    paulsandberg
    Although at times coming off as a film version of a play, this film has a heart and soul, as well as an imagination that, like falling down the rabbit hole, isn't always a good thing.

    Occasionaly brilliant, it makes some of the more pedestrian scenes seem all the more two dime... read morensional (the scenes with the stiff Principal were hard to watch).

    Yet for all that, there are certainly magical moments and a tight story line all centered around Carrol's books. You see, Mom, brilliantly portrayed by Felicity Huffman, is trying to write a book about Alice In Wonderland, while her youngest child, who has always danced to her own drummer, becomes increasingly obsessed by all things Alicelike.

    Low and behold, the new drama teacher, the always wonderful Patricia Clarkson, enters Phoebe's classroom door and utters "twas brillig and the slithey toves..." before inviting one and all for tea.

    Phoebe, a somewhat distant child, not much adored by the rest of the students, stuggles with herself and then finally decides to try out for the play. From the rehearsals we can see that she is really much more than what she seems - her outer shell shed like a chrysalis, her butterfly soars... but back in the real world outside the auditorium, her life seems to devolve, as if the stage world is more real than the real one (a nod to Carrol once again).

    She starts to exhibit some alarming tendencies, making one wonder if she has OCD - but early on most of her compulsions can be explained away as the workings of a ten year old mind. Her mother wants her to be a free spirit, yet worries that somehow she is failing to give her daughters enough attention as she struggles to write her book (there's a wonderful scene about 2/3 through where Huffman is outside raking leaves and then confesses her doubts and concerns to her husband - it's a beautiful scene, but somehow seems out of step with the rest of the film).

    I'm not going to reveal the rest of the story, letting you jump down the proverbial rabbit hole on your own, but must mention that Elle Fanning is truly amazing in the role of Phoebe; with serious, uneffected acting chops. With all she is going through as her life twists away from her, it is all the more telling when the catapillar asks "who are you?"
  • jjnxn
    February 5, 2010
    jjnxn
    Whatever the film makers were going for in this film they missed. A dreary downer with an able cast wasted.
  • puffchunk
    December 27, 2009
    puffchunk
    I learned that kids with Tourettes are funny, and that I wish to punch some parents in the face.
  • flixsterman
    August 12, 2009
    flixsterman
    A bright little girl with a debilitating condition finds strength and solace in her school's production of "Alice in Wonderland". Director Daniel Barnz does a commendable job with an outstanding cast but, instead of engaging us (his audience), all his efforts seem focused toward... read more enlightening us. The result is a film that's pleasant but preachy.
  • dreamfaeries
    August 9, 2009
    dreamfaeries
    Very odd, but so well done that you keep watching to see what was going to happen next. Excellent cast and well put together.
  • dhetteix
    May 11, 2009
    dhetteix
    A wonderful performance from Fanning, an original and poetic take on the story of Alice in Wonderland. Still, the film wavers a bit clumsily between heavy-handed whimsicality and dark adult themes.... and as such, dilutes both extremes from reaching their full potential.

    Regardl... read moreess, the story is well told, and worth watching.
  • 366weirdmovies
    April 23, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    A little girl cursed with an obsessive behavior disorder (which causes her to spit on her classmates, among other things) finds she can soothe her demons by acting in the school production of "Alice in Wonderland." This feelgood/ tearjerker drama has a very predictable narrative... read more arc, but it's an actor's movie with great performances by Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman, Patricia Clarkson, and especially young Elle Fanning, whose every bit as good as her sister.
  • gator681
    April 9, 2010
    gator681
    In "Phoebe in Wonderland," Hillary(Felicity Huffman) and Peter Lichten(Bill Pullman) are married writers, with two young daughters, Phoebe(Elle Fanning) and Olivia(Bailee Madison). While Peter has just had his latest book accepted by a publisher, Hillary is stuck on hers about A... read morelice in Wonderland which Phoebe is obsessed with but not so much with school.(Like most children, she has a favorite story, or movie, with this one lasting longer than most which speaks to the power of the source.) That's true until Miss Dodger(Patricia Clarkson) pokes her nose around, asking for tryouts for a stage production of Alice in Wonderland which Phoebe's friend Jamie(Ian Colletti) is also auditioning for. Phoebe gets the lead role but her erratic behavior so unnerves her parents that she gets sent to Dr. Miles(Peter Gerety), a child psychologist.

    "Phoebe in Wonderland" proves that any movie where a child dresses up as Karl Marx for Halloween cannot be all bad.(And how cool is that?) Actually, the movie is a sensitive and unconventional look into the imagination of a young child that takes her down a dangerous path farther and farther away from reality, told from her point of view, not the parents. That does not let the Lichtens off the hook as their children have to be the center of their universe. That goes for both parents, not just the mother, by the way. While the movie does a good job of bringing up the controversy of the medication of children, Phoebe's diagnosis comes out of nowhere and is a little too convenient.

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Critic Reviews

Ben Mankiewicz
March 9, 2009
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies

It needs the power of imagination to be done effectively and I just didn't think it was here. Full Review

Ben Lyons
March 9, 2009
Ben Lyons, At the Movies

I thought this was delightful, a little depressing at times but with three stellar performances from Fanning, Huffman, and Patricia Clarkson. Full Review

Peter Rainer
March 9, 2009
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

There's a lot more perspiration than inspiration. Full Review

Dana Stevens
March 6, 2009
Dana Stevens, Slate

[Elle Fanning is] an astonishingly natural and unmannered actress who carries this rather ungainly movie on her narrow shoulders. Full Review

Carrie Rickey
March 6, 2009
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Barnz has made a poignant family movie that, despite its thematic material and brief profanity, is appropriate for mature 10-year-olds and older. Full Review

Peter Travers
March 6, 2009
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Let Clarkson and Fanning take you to the rabbit hole of seductive enchantment that defines this movie. Full Review

Christy Lemire
March 6, 2009
Christy Lemire, Associated Press

Writer-director Daniel Barnz manages to achieve a true and delicate balance for much of Phoebe in Wonderland, his first feature, but ultimately undermines himself with heavy-handed and rather hackneye... Full Review

Mick LaSalle
March 6, 2009
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It's a rare thing when a labor of love turns out to be worth both the labor and the love. Full Review

Stephen Holden
March 6, 2009
Stephen Holden, New York Times

It leaves you frustrated and annoyed. Full Review

Claudia Puig
March 6, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

An uneven, unfocused amalgamation of ideas and moods that is at times deeply moving nonetheless. Full Review

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