INKHEART

INKHEART: Movies have turned to literature for inspiration since the very beginning of cinema. And although success in both mediums is measured by the same barometer – good storytelling – films can often get by on a sliding scale of style over substance. With Inkheart, director Iain Softley certainly has his heart in the right place adapting Cornelia Funke’s novel about Silvertounges, rare individuals who can literally bring books to life when they read out loud. Brendan Fraser plays just such a man, who unwittingly reads a trio of villains into the real world while his wife is sent back into its pages, setting himself and his daughter on a quest to track down the rare volume and rescue her. Although Fraser has more than a decade of experience starring in similar family friendly fare, it’s actor Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale) who shoulders most of the dramatic weight as Dustfinger, a mysterious magician who simply longs to return to his comfortable literary surroundings. Inkheart, like most other young adult properties dealing with magic and assorted sorcery, can’t help but avoid the Harry Potter comparisons. But very few productions attract the same sort of lavish attention as Potter does. That being said, Inkheart equates itself quite well in the acting department thanks to experienced British thespians like Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent and everything from the costumes to creature designs and digital effects are well done. Yet the film lacks that intangible “something” to give it the spark of life. Or maybe it’s just that what’s imagined on the page can never truly be brought to life...even on a movie screen. New Line’s Blu-ray provides a fine presentation although the extras are a little light, including a few additional scenes, a reading from the novel shared by various cast and crew members and longer featurette with Funke herself. A standard-def version and digital copy of the film are also provided.