8 years from her acting debut where Elle Fanning played the 2 year old Lucy in I Am Sam, she now takes the lead role in Phoebe in Wonderland. Miss Elle Fanning gives a killer performance as Phoebe an adorable 9 year old struggling with Terrets, OCD tendencies, and a terrible time separating fantasy with reality. When Phoebe lands the lead in the Alice and Wonderland she meets, Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson,) her school’s drama teacher. Miss Dodger and Phoebe instantly connect and it is while Phoebe is on stage that she feels free and alive. Elle Fanning is brilliant, I’d say she gives a performance of a lifetime but the girl is only 10. Phoebe in Wonderland is no longer in theaters, it was released in 2008 and can now be found on DVD, go see what makes this film so different “from all the awful normals.”
The story of the Young at Heart Chorus, a group of senior citizens who perform contemporary rock and pop tunes, is done so honestly that I recommend this to anyone, and I mean anyone (grandmas, nephews, uncles, neighbors) as a must see film. Although it appeared in theaters as early as July of 2007, it is not too late. Young At Heart is on the shelves of your local movie rental retailer or, if you would like to add a stupendous movie to your DVD collection, it is available for purchase on the film’s website.
107 minutes in it’s entirety was life changing. I laughed, I cried at separate times and simultaneously throughout the documentary. Bodies dwindle, but the mind doesn’t have to and the members of this awe-inspiring choir are prime illustrations. “When you are singing you can’t be sad,” so sing. Sing your hearts out. Sing your heart into youthfulness.
