Bookworm is a 2024 New Zealand adventure comedy drama film directed by Ant Timpson more with regards Toby Harvard’s screenplay. The motion picture does center on a little girl Mildred who travels with her separated American parent Strawn Wise on a quest for Canterbury panther. It also starred Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher. The film belongs to the genre of adventure comedy drama animation weapons, and took its international premiere at the 28th national Film Festival January 18th 2024. Released in New Zealand on 8 August 2024.
Shunning the familiar horror genre which is his trademark, Ant Timpson does this relatively straightforward story of a camp outing ,11-year-old Mildred (Fisher) meeting her farmer father Wood after years of estrangement. This appears to be more of a film designed to tug on the heart strings rather than anything more substantial.
Don’t be deceived – there are some genre cornerstones later with Timpson’s latest; embarrassing not enough to dissuade the PG audience from coming along for the ride.
Bookworm Movie Review
Milderd, who is only twelve years old, doesn’t know that her life will be shaken to the core once her mother gets hospitalized and her absent American magician father, Strawn Wise played by Elijah Wood, returns to take care of her. Strawn takes Mildred camping in the inhospitable New Zealand wilderness with hopes that he will amuse the nerdy child, and the two adventurers begin what could only ever be called the ultimate familial adventure: the quest for the legendary Canterbury Panther.
However, when the incident happened, mildred’s mother gets hospitalized and the very intelligent yet also the very rebellious little girl stands on crossroads against her runaway father Strawn Wise (Wood) who works as an illiusionist. But wise is unfortunately in far more deeper than he should have gone, and even after his bonding attempts, ends up attempting to help mildred hunt down the elusive canterbury panther for a reward to try and connect with his distant daughter who shares his affinity for imaginary creatures.
As the two perfect opposites escape deep into the south island, wise ventures to the past – but how will he do when faced as a provider.
The ties and things that connect people is basically the subject matter that Timpson wishes to examine here, in what can be considered a lighter take on fatherhood as opposed to his more twisted view from his earlier film Come to Me Daddy (which also featured Wood).
Mostly, it plays out rather well – an odd, light off-centre sensibility that never gets overdone is generously applied across the entire movie, with Fisher’s relatively more confident accents bumping into Wood’s wannabe approach. However, as it continues, the picture begins to transform in the way of more G style picture whwhich begins to clash with the more G lines that were established early on.
In several respects also, Bookworm is about the values of redemption, fatherhood and family regained and in this regard it works better.
Fisher is really good in her role as Mildred – a woman with a brave personality who is at times revealing the weaknesses of an eleven-year old – and here she always maintains her inner strength and believes in herself and what’s right. Indeed Wood adds even more humor to his very own frailties, such as, instead of a magician, he prefers an illusionist, or acting out with his own daughter to hide his own weaknesses.
It’s at this point Bookworm wins over more; although Timpson’s captures of the southern wilderness is remarkable, it is in the interactions that the film truly comes to life. There are offbeat moments that work with characters that one would care about as much as relationships taken from the heat of the battle, have some degree of truth to them.
Cinemas and, specifically, cinerama will accept Bookworm as a family success, and, perhaps, some parts would need a more refined approach, but not in her frustration and everyday in a striving for the center drama with her characters and character driven dialogue – no one comes close.
