Click here for the review of Inkheart

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Hi ReelViews team.

I have not seen the movie but can tell you that Mark Kermode on the BBC really likes this film alot. His thought was that it was far superior to the Bedtime Stories movie that came out at the same time.

Rob

I have to wonder, if Inkheart and Bedtime Stories changed places (release dates/marketing, etc.) wouldn't Inkheart have made just as much $ as Bedtime Stories did. For whatever reason, Bedtime Stories got to be the Christmas hit and Inkheart was relegated to January obscurity.

Yeah, Mark Kermode was saying in the Uk that BS got all the marketing support and Inkheart was essentially dumped into theaters.

In the Us it's been even worse, at least in the Uk Inkheart saw December.

My kids saw a trailer of Inkheart and thought it looked really interesting, then came Paul Blart and .....

I had a miserable Saturday evening with the Mall Cop

Rob

I'm so sorry.

Saying it's superior to "Bedtime Stories" is correct. That, however, isn't saying much when one considers the quality of "Bedtime Stories."

The biggest thing that "Bedtime Stories" had going for it was Adam Sandler. It's easy to market Sandler, but not so easy to market Brendan Fraser. The filmmakers wanted a bigger star than Fraser for the lead but the books' author lobbied for Fraser and she won.

Both of them seem to me like criminal under-use of a great concept with lots of potential.

That's not saying much. Pagemaster, Bedtime Stories, Inkheart... all have great concepts with disappointing executions imo. I think what Bridge to Terabithia did was vastly superior to anything Adam Sandler/Brendan Fraser have done in any fantasy-ish movies.

Totally agree. My kids and i have seen BtT many times. I skipped BS

Rob

Brendan Fraser had two $100mm movies in 2008. if he could drag the awful Journey to the Center of the Earth past $100mm....

Rob

I keep thinking Fraser will finally make a career comeback with one of these big movies, but it never seems to pan out. Shame too, he may not be the best actor around but there are worse ones out there that are considered much more successful.

I think the review's mention of City of Ember is extremely appropriate - like it, Inkheart is another good fantasy title that undeservedly failed at the BO.

I just watched City Of Ember with my kids and we really liked it as a good family movie.
lots of interesting ideas and the film just sped along.
Rob

I know it's not exactly the same, but the Neverending Story I thought did a much better job of integrating real and fictional worlds.

I have mixed feelings about that movie.

Why on EARTH would she want Fraser?

I really wanted to like Inkheart. But it just wasn't any good. It felt really cheap (the CGI in the money scene being the most glaring example), and my friends and I were laughing when the house was in the tornado. Something just felt "off" about Inkheart, and I'd attribute most of it to casting. Fraser wasn't the worst (that was the Ali Baba kid), but the only ones who shined through were Jim Broadbent and Andy Serkis.

Serkis would make an AMAZING Blofeld. Anyone agree?