The Borrowers (1998)

I consider myself a fan of THE BORROWERS after watching the BBC children's TV series in the early 1990s. Recently I read the original novel for the first time and enjoyed it; I also saw the fine Japanese animated adaptation of the story, ARRIETTY. So I was interested, if not a little wary, to see how this American version of the story would held up. It's worth noting that I'd never seen it before.Simply put, this is a travesty of a film and a huge disappointment for a true BORROWERS fan. Other than the central characters, the entire storyline has been jettisoned in favour of a bombastic, action-packed chase narrative in which the little people must team up to battle evil property tycoon John Goodman. This is about as far from the small-scale (pun intended) origins of the original Mary Norton story as it gets.There are a few lights twinkling away amid the garbage; I'll be the first to admit that Jim Broadbent makes for an effective Pod, and Tom Felton shines in an early role. Celia Imrie isn't bad as Homily, but she's no match for Penelope Wilton. The special effects aren't too bad for the year, and few of them scream 'obvious CGI' like so many Hollywood films today.So where did it go wrong? Well, the attempts to update the story for a modern American audience is a good start. The setting is some ridiculous 'netherworld' which mixes modern-day technology with 1950s-era Britain and America. It's ludicrous. Goodman's villain is poorly shoe-horned into the storyline and the subject of numerous fat jokes. Really? Is it right for a film to be teaching kids to constantly insult people due to their weight? The characters are badly written, the dumb humour consists of farting dogs and the like, and the whole thing has been dumbed down massively and lost the magic of the original. In the end it's just another soulless Hollywood effects piece.

It was a good film but I feel it does not compare to any of the Disney movies or any Harry Potter movie. The story line was great but the cinematography wasn't very good. The best part of the whole movie was the little Tom Felton. He is an amazing actor and that is why I say it is a good film to see, but there are definitely better ones out there. Especially if you want to see more of Tom Felton, I would recommend the Harry Potter films. The funny thing is, he doesn't even think he wants acting for a career. He is more of a fisherman. Go figure. Anyway, The Borrowers is an older movie now and the Special Effects really don't stand up to other movies now. Unfortunately it was a good movie when it came out but now I may think otherwise. I give The Borrowers 7/10 stars.

i adore this movie. it gives an entirely new perspective about the world. much the same effect as "honey i shrunk the kids" had only more every day life. tables, chairs, beds, clothes. it's great. what I love is the cast. I just keep recognizing people. "he was in jumanji!" "he was in stuart little!" "he is in the harry potter movies!" "he was in moulin rouge!" i loved it. actually, this movie is worth watching just for the hair styles! ^_^

Having read the mary Norton novels I was expecting a little morefrom the film. What i got was entertaining enough, it could havebeen better though. It seemed to be a mismatch between HomeAlone and Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and was pretty much on thesame par as these two films. The acting was o.k, and the visualeffects were quite good but i thought it could have benefited frommore substance. Still it was not a total waste of time, it had somegood parts. The 10 year old boy was quite annoying though, andwould benefit from a few more years acting lessons beforeinflicting us with his talentless efforts. That said the largelyBritish cast did their best.