An excellent family comedy with some social criticism in the mix.
The film is one of the most famous family comedies of the 1990s, adapting the story of the same name by Roald Dahl for the screen, where a girl, who was born into an idiotic family unable to understand it, decides to win the right to go to school and to learn, which their parents do not value. However, at school, she comes across a cruel and sadistic headmistress who will become her biggest adversary, while her teacher becomes her best friend.
It's a very good and enjoyable film, with a nice comedy genre and some fantasy. The characters are reasonably well done, albeit a bit artificial in their conception, and the cast is very good. Mara Wilson, despite her youth, shone in the lead role and guaranteed the start of her acting career. Danny DeVito, who also ensures an effective and well-executed direction, does a very intelligent job as an actor, being well assisted by Rhea Perlman. And while Embeth Davidtz delivers a good performance, it's Pam Ferris's overwhelming and committed performance as a villain that steals our attention, in a work that is as iconic and striking as it is histrionic and over-the-top.
It may go unnoticed, in the midst of the comedy and lightness of the film itself, but I felt that there is here, well marked in the Wormwoods, a harsh sarcastic critique of a certain American middle class: like many American families, they learned to do everything, or almost everything, in front of the television screen, and they do not value each other, being in every respect a largely dysfunctional family. He's a crook, she's vain, vain and addicted to gambling, the eldest son doesn't seem to have any prospects for the future or know what he wants from his own life. As a family, they value nothing but easy money, as evidenced by the weird TV show style they adore and the cheap, tasteless decor of their home. Despite everything, they think they are much smarter than others for being that way.
Technically, it's a low-key film. The cinematography is in line with what one would expect in a comic film of this decade, prolific in good comedies, and the sets and costumes are good and convincing, particularly the school. The film has some special, visual and sound effects, most of which do their job well, without demerits. The soundtrack, composed by David Newman, doesn't bring anything really remarkable.
