‘Bookworm’ review: Difficulty finding your way: The Independent

After her mother’s accident, eleven-year-old Mildred (Nell Fisher) is temporarily placed in the care of a father she has never met – the faded wizard Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood). The two don’t immediately hit it off, and in an effort to bond with Mildred, Strawn agrees to take her on a camping trip to search for the elusive Canterbury Panther.

★★★☆☆

The film’s cinematography is impressive – capturing the vast landscapes of Aotearoa in a way that both highlights their vastness and admires their details. On a smaller level, the opening credits show all the treasures and curiosities that Mildred displays in her room, conveying a warm, curious tone. It’s a shame the rest of the film can’t sustain that.

One of BookwormThe main problem is that all conflicts are resolved almost immediately after they arise. Mildred wants to spot the Canterbury Panther, and they do. Her camera is missing and they retrieve it almost immediately. She and her father argue and are separated, but immediately find their way back to each other. This goes so far that Strawn suddenly has mastery of magic in a way that, if you’ve ever seen it before, is hard to believe. No plot is dragged out for very long, resulting in uneven pacing, with long stretches where there seems to be no plot at all, and times where the viewer is bombarded with B-plot after B-plot. The whimsical tone and epic hunt for a panther promised in the trailers quickly falls by the wayside.

Perhaps plot errors could be excused if the characters were more compelling, but they aren’t particularly compellingly written. Mildred is clearly intended to fit an archetype of a gifted child or a prodigy, a character that has been popular in family films for about a decade and can be written effectively. However, Mildred falls short of her predecessors. Despite the film’s title and superficial focus on her being a “card-carrying bookworm,” we only realize Mildred’s precocious status when she mentions a book or two early on and rattles off a few sparse facts. Compared to people like The young and amazing TS Spivet (2011) or Matilda (1996), Mildred’s bookkeeping seems more like a trope than an integral aspect of her character.

There are elements of the film that have some merit – the relationship between Mildred and Strawn develops well, ranging from Mildred’s resentment over Strawn’s lifelong absence to something approaching a truce. Strawn is initially uncomfortable around her, but figures out how to act as a father when they face dangers greater than the Canterbury Panther. He’s allowed to have the same fears and insecurities as Mildred – it’s a dynamic that recognizes that they’re both just human. He made mistakes as a father, but the text emphasizes that everyone has their pitfalls. Additionally, Wood’s performance as a faded TV wizard is a fun sight, reminiscent of his role as ex-band member Todd Brotzman in Dirk Gently’s holistic detective agency– someone who is both deeply tired and ultimately still well-intentioned.

The verdict

The actors do their best for a story that could have benefited from more development and depth. Bookworm moves on a line between whimsy and realism that is not crossed in either direction. Despite its impressive cinematography, it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, too slow for an adventure epic and too surreal for a grounded family story. Although it can be counted among the “prodigy films,” it is not the strongest among them.

Words by Casey Langton

Bookworm is now available on digital platforms

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