PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND
The Story:
Phoebe Lichten (Elle Fanning) a troubled suburban schoolgirl experiencing symptoms that include obsessive compulsive step climbing and handwashing till her skin bleeds, uncontrollable hurling of insults and spitting at schoolmates when they tease her, and a fixation on roof ledges while trying to keep herself from jumping off them. Her parents (Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman), who seem to have their own fixations on their writing careers, are more often than not into denial about Phoebe's behavior, dismissing her episodes as phases she'll grow out of eventually. Or, perhaps the result of a child with a creative mind of her own, mirroring her own parents as dedicated nonconformists.
Always on the verge of being thrown out of school, Phoebe, who does indeed have the family DNA of a gifted imagination, is drawn to the new drama teacher, Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson), who is intent on mounting a student production of Alice In Wonderland. The two rather whimsically minded kindred souls for whom everyday reality is merely an impediment to creative inspiration, magically bond when Phoebe is chosen to play Alice, a situation which sparks maternal jealousy in her alienated mom, and overall exasperation on the part of the school authorities, who assess in the teacher's captivating influence over these children, a pathological loon.
Starring:
Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Elle Fanning, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott, Peter Gerety, Ian Colletti
Directed By:
Daniel Barnz
Release:
2008
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