"Borrowers" are tiny people, about the same size as Lilliputians. Rather than living in Liliput, however, they live in our world and our houses, "borrowing" what they need from what they can get from us. When something goes missing, it might not have been lost: perhaps it was simply "borrowed."
This film creates a complete fantastic world for the Borrowers. It is set in an England of no particular time or place. All the cars look like they drove right out of the 40's, but the cityscape and the bad guy's celluar phone are definitely 1990's. The house of the Lender family, a stately Victorian affair, is also home to a family of Borrowers by the name of Clock.
Pod Clock (Jim Broadbent) and his children use tools they fashion out of borrowed items to navigate their way through the house while foraging for supplies. There is discontent in the Clock family, however, since teenaged daughter Arrietty (Flora Newbigin) is going through a phase where she needs to be independent. The Lender family is not altogether happy either, since it seems that their house has been sold out from under them due to a missing will. The only one who is happy is Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman), the huge and vulgar attorney (American, natch) who has acquired the house and plans to demolish it. All Potter needs to do is find the will and burn it. Easy, right?
That is the setup. The remainder of the plot consists of the Borrowers stealing the hidden will and escaping from the clutches of the unspeakable Potter. Now while such a plot recap and the poorly-conceived advertising campaign makes the film look like a Home Alone clone, nothing could be further from the truth. The chases here are truly exciting, and while the villain does get some comeuppance over the course of the film (he gets whacked on the head with a hammer and doused with insecticide and cheese), such stunts are generally the results of his own nefarious and ill-thought actions, rather than being simple sadistic tortures devised by so-called good guys.
The film is a delightful fantasy, and is possibly the best children's movie since Babe. It has been compared by some to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but I find that comparison to be less than apt. Probably the most importance difference between the two is that the characters are much more real in The Borrowers: no "wacky neighbors" here. The only outrageous character is that of the villain, but if any character has the right to go over the top, the villain does.
The real stars of this film may be the production design team (production designer Gemma Jackson, art director Andrew Ackland-Snow, costume designer Marie France). They created a world made completely out of the detritus of western civilization, where doors are made out of credit cards, wristwatches are worn around the waist, and discarded birthday candles become torches. I don't know how much of the "look" of the Borrowers themselves was based on the book and how much is original to the film, but in any case, the look that is projected on the screen is creative and new.
John Goodman is the ultimate Ugly American (anyone remember King Ralph?) and is well-cast as the lawyer. Jim Broadbent is quite odd as Pod Clock, but I guess playing a non-human character will do that to an actor. Bradley Pierce is appealing as the Lender family son who helps the Clock family, as are Hugh Laurie as an oh-so-helpful police constable and Mark Williams (Red Dwarf fans will recognize him as Peterson) as an exterminator.
What a pity that such a quality movie will go mostly unseen because of poor marketing and since it isn't a Di$ney product. I guess that gives the lie to the theory that there is a huge market for quality children's fare If that were so, why do movies like The Borrowers flop, eh, Michael Medved?
Three-and-a-half stars
Copyright 1998 by Dale G. Abersold
