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Charlotte's Web
This new adaptation of E.B. White's classic children's book, about a runty pig saved from the slaughterhouse by his friendship with a learned spider, has all the ingredients of its source but doesn't quite know how to mix them.
Credit where credit is due: White's parable about death and friendship survives the transition fully intact. What's lost in the translation is any of the sense of wonder or myth that might have made Charlotte's Web touching for anyone outside the target market; those of you hoping for another Babe will be sorely disappointed.
Part of the problem is the voice-acting; though much effort obviously went in to CGI-ing the animal actor's lips, the effect is rendered moot by tepid line readings that lack any real characterization. Charlotte's Web really needed some hissing and honking, something to sell the illusion of life in the barn; close your eyes and listen and you'll be hard-pressed to tell whether you're hearing from a cow or a goose.
And while talking pigs are always cute, White's book and your imagination have an advantage that no screen adaptation will be able to match: there's no amount of CGI wizardry that can render a spider anything but creepy, even if Julia Roberts is lending it her voice.
It's absolutely true that Charlotte's Web is a timeless parable that your children can enjoy and learn from, but you'll both have a lot more fun if they hear it from you instead.
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