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It’s not often that live-action film adaptations of illustrated picture
books are well done. Or that I’m truly enchanted by a children’s movie
I didn’t grow up with. But this movie really brought the classic Madeline books to life without
rendering them cheesy. The bright costuming and fantasy Paris sets bring the
illustrations to life. And the acting and directing also help bring mischievous
Madeline, her catholic school classmates, and Miss Clavell, the girls’
nun teacher, to life.
Of course a rhyming picture book (however good) would be hard-pressed to find
enough plot for a long movie, but the additions were both interesting and in
keeping with the spirit of the original. The story manages to keep its fairytale
feel and even some of the original words and rhymes without making it seem in
any way childish or ridiculous to an adult watching it for the first (or second
or third) time.
You’ll want to go back and read the books again after watching this one.
