Okay... so I didn't watch this full movie- but I caught most of the parts I haven't seen in a while a few weeks ago... and it is hard to commit to watching a full feature length film every week... so Matilda is this week's movie monday!
So first off... I LOVE this movie. I've seen it 100 times as a kid- I still watch it fondly as an adult... it's one of those kind of magical nostalgic movies for me. And honestly I didn't know very much about the actual book Matilda until the musical came out a few years ago. I think I did know it was a book written by Roald Dahl... but I had sort of forgotten that and... this movie just does not feel like a Roald Dahl. I just reviewed Charlie and The Chocolate Factory recently... and i just watched the beginning of the orignal Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and these are VERY different feels than Matilda... and I kind of really love that about this Matilda adaptation.
I've never read the book or seen the musical so... I don't really know that it's necessarily all that different but... I'm pretty sure Matilda is supposed to take place in England and this movie adaptation just seems very very American. I've been to England before but I've never lived there- but... The Wormwoods seem like a very american family. The dad is a sleazy used car salesman and the mom plays Bingo all day... that just seems very New Jersey to me... and I feel like Danny Devito- who is a Jersey legend did a fantastic job making this beloved classic his own.
I saw up until Matilda first went to school more or less... and I feel like... this was just a nicely paced movie. The School world is different from Matilda's home world... but it makes sense that the two parallel so well. Matilda doesn't really feel at home when she's home because she doesn't belong with the Wormwoods... and it seems like she feels more at home at School with Miss Honey... but the school is also really scary because of Trunchbull... and idk they just do a good job of showing how awful it is but also showing that Matilda has so much joy from being at school.
It's also always weird to me that Danny Devito directed this movie... and he cast himself and his wife as the villains... and he also narrates the story and he does a great job of it. It's all a little odd but it works together so well and I don't think I can imagine it any other way... it all just works so well and makes for such a fun movie.
Bye!
-Shannon
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