Research for content of my Wes Anderson film festival programmes, which will be designed within the next few days/weeks, content and development of which can be found on my Design Practice blog.
Summaries found from varying sources... all sourced and linked above the text content. I will use these examples to form my own summaries, text and reviews. Of course, being an introductory guide, potentially for audiences not familar with his films, I won't give as much content away as these reviews and summaries show.
BOTTLE ROCKET
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_Rocket
The film centers on a group of aimless young men living in Texas. Dignan (Owen C. Wilson) "rescues" Anthony (Luke Wilson)
from a voluntary mental hospital, where he has been staying for
self-described exhaustion. Dignan has an elaborate escape planned and
has developed a 75-year plan that he shows to Anthony. The plan is to
pull off several heists and then meet Mr. Henry, a landscapist and
part-time criminal known to Dignan.
As a practice heist, the two friends break into Anthony's house,
stealing specific items from a list. Afterwards, critiquing the heist,
Dignan reveals that he took a pair of earrings, not specified on the
list. This upsets Anthony, as he had bought those earrings for his
mother. Anthony visits his little sister at her school so she can return
the earrings. Dignan recruits Bob Mapplethorpe (Robert Musgrave) as a
getaway driver because he is the only person they know with a car. The
three buy guns and return to Bob's house to plan their next heist, a
local bookstore. The group bickers as Dignan struggles to describe his
intricate plan.
The group steals a small sum of money from the bookstore and "go on the lam" at a hotel. Anthony meets Inés (Lumi Cavazos),
a maid, and the two spark a romance despite Inés's lack of English. Bob
learns that his marijuana crop has been discovered by police and his
older brother has been arrested. Bob leaves to help his brother. Before
leaving, Anthony gives Dignan an envelope for Inés. Dignan delivers the
envelope to Inés while she is cleaning a room, not knowing the envelope
has most of his and Anthony's money inside. Inés does not open the
envelope and hugs Dignan to say goodbye. As Dignan is leaving, Inez asks
an English-speaking male friend of hers to chase after Dignan and tell
him she loves Anthony. When he delivers the message he says, "Tell
Anthony I love him". Dignan fails to realize he is speaking for Inés and
does not deliver the message.
Taking an abandoned Alfa Romeo Spider,
Dignan and Anthony continue with the 75-year plan, but the car breaks
down. Anthony reveals that the envelope Dignan gave to Inés contained
the rest of their cash. The two get in a fight and go their separate
ways. Narrating a letter to his sister, Anthony says he and Bob have
settled into a routine that is keeping them busy. Dignan, who has joined
Mr. Henry's gang, tracks Anthony down and they reconcile. Dignan
invites Anthony into a job with Mr. Henry and Anthony accepts on the
condition that Bob is allowed in. The trio meet the eccentric Mr. Henry (James Caan)
and plan to rob a safe at a cold storage facility. Mr. Henry becomes a
role model for the trio, standing up to Bob's abusive brother and
tutoring Dignan on success. He invites the trio to a party at his house
and visits the group at the Mapplethorpes' house, which he compliments.
Anthony learns of Inés's love for him and contacts her. She has learned
some English and the two rekindle their relationship.
With two accomplices from Mr. Henry's landscaping company, the group
conducts their heist at the factory, but the plan quickly falls apart.
As the police arrive Dignan has locked himself out of the escape van and
is arrested. During the heist, Mr. Henry loads furniture from Bob's
house into a truck. Anthony and Bob visit Dignan in prison and tell him
how Mr. Henry robbed Bob's house. Dignan begins rattling off an escape
plan and tells his friends to get into position for a get-away. After a
tense moment the two realize Dignan is joking. Dignan says to Anthony,
"Isn't it funny that you used to be in the nuthouse and now I'm in jail?" as he walks back into the prison.
Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown,
the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less
sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a hare-brained scheme for an
as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss,
the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry. With the help of their pathetic
neighbor and pal Bob, Anthony and Dignan pull a job and hit the road,
where Anthony finds love with motel maid Inez. When our boys finally
hook up with Mr. Henry, the ensuing escapade turns out to be far from
what anyone expected.
A bright, optimistic caper comedy from first-time director Wes Anderson,
Bottle Rocket focuses on a group of young Texans aspiring to become
master thieves. Their leader is Dignan (Owen C. Wilson, who also
co-wrote the screenplay), an upbeat if naive charmer who convinces his
friends Anthony (Wilson's brother Luke Wilson) and Bob Mapplethorpe
(Robert Musgrave) to enter the crime business. After their first heist, a
bizarrely-executed robbery of a local bookstore, the trio goes on the
lam, taking
up residence in a border
hotel where Anthony falls in love with a maid played by Lumi Cavazos.
When the three buddies decide that they need to return to the real
world, they hook up with a master con-man (James Caan) who sends them on
a daring -- if ill-concieved -- mission. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
RUSHMORE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rushmore_%28film%29
Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a precocious and eccentric 15 year-old, is both Rushmore's most extracurricular and least scholarly student. Herman Blume (Bill Murray) is a disillusioned industrialist who comes to admire Max. Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams) is a widowed first grade teacher who becomes the object of both Max's and Herman's affection.
Max's life revolves around Rushmore Academy, a private school, where he is a scholarship student. Max spends nearly all of his time on elaborate extracurricular activities, caring little how it affects his grades. He also feuds with the school's headmaster, Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox).
Blume finds his operation of a multimillion dollar company to be
unsatisfying and is frustrated that his marriage is failing and the two
sons he's putting through Rushmore are unrepentant brats. He and Max
become close friends; Max admires Herman's success while Herman is
impressed by Max's cocksure attitude.
Ms. Cross arrives at the academy as a new teacher after the death of
her husband (and former Rushmore student), and Max quickly develops an
infatuation. He makes many attempts at courting her. While she initially
tolerates Max, Ms. Cross becomes increasingly alarmed at his obvious
obsession with her. Along the way Blume attempts to convince Max that
Ms. Cross is not worth the trouble, only to fall for Rosemary himself.
They begin dating without Max's knowledge.
After Max attempts to break ground on an aquarium without the
school's approval, he is expelled from Rushmore. He is then forced to
enroll in his first public school, Grover Cleveland High. Attempts to
engage in outside activities at his new school have mixed results. A
fellow student, Margaret Yang (Sara Tanaka), tries to engage Max, but he pays little attention to her. Rosemary and Blume attempt to support him in his new school.
Eventually, Max's friend Dirk (Mason Gamble)
discovers the relationship between Rosemary and Blume and informs Max
as payback for a rumor Max started about his mother. Max and Blume go
from being friends to mortal enemies, and they engage in back-and-forth
acts of revenge on each other. Max informs Blume's wife of her husband's
affair, thus ending their marriage. Max then puts bees in Blume's hotel
room, and then Blume destroys Max's bicycle with his car. Max also cuts
the brake lines on Blume's car, for which he is arrested. Eventually
Max gives up and explains to Blume that revenge no longer matters
because even if he (Max) wins, Rosemary still would love Blume. Max then
becomes depressed and stops attending school. He cuts himself off from
the world and works as an apprentice at his father's barber shop.
One day, Dirk stops by the shop to apologize to Max and bring him a
Christmas present. In the process, Dirk suggests Max see his old
headmaster in the hospital, knowing Blume will be there, as well. Max
and Blume meet and are cordial, and Max finds out that Ms. Cross broke
up with Blume. He also manages to bring Dr. Guggenheim out of his coma.
Max begins to apply himself in school again. He also develops a
friendship with Margaret Yang whom he casts in one of his plays.
Max takes his final shot at Ms. Cross and is rebuffed again. Max
makes it his new mission to win Ms. Cross back for Blume. His first
attempt is unsuccessful, but then he invites both Herman and Rosemary to
the performance of a play he wrote, making sure they will be sitting
together. In the end, Ms. Cross and Blume appear to reconcile. Max and
Margaret Yang also become a couple.
Max and Ms. Cross look at each other enigmatically as they share a dance at the play's wrap party.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128445/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rushmore/
After the highly acclaimed independent film Bottle Rocket, director Wes Anderson followed up with a quirky Touchstone Studios film entitled Rushmore. Written by Anderson and friend Owen Wilson (an actor in Armageddon and Anaconda), they created the story of Max Fischer, a highly eccentric 15-year-old boy who attends the tenth grade at Rushmore Academy. Played by Jason Schwartzman (Talia Shire's son and Francis Ford Coppola's nephew), Max is a poor student with big dreams and a love of extracurricular activities. Max is editor of the school newspaper and yearbook, president of the chess, astronomy, French, and German clubs, captain of the fencing team, and director of the school play. Max is also a compulsive liar, telling everyone that his barber father (Seymour Cassel) is really a brain surgeon. Suddenly Max falls in love with Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), a first-grade teacher at the school. He also makes a new friend in business tycoon Mr. Blume (Bill Murray), an eccentric millionaire who also loves Miss Cross. The love triangle heats up as Max refuses to believe that his age has anything to do with Miss Cross refusing his romantic advances. Also Max's scheme to erect an aquarium on the school baseball diamond gets him booted out of Rushmore Academy. As his life crumbles around him, he is forced to grow up and accept the consequences of his actions and his lies. He throws himself more into his extracurricular activities, hoping to redeem himself by staging the most ambitious school play ever attempted. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Tenenbaums
Royal Tenenbaum is explaining to his three children, Chas, Margot,
and Richie, that he and his wife, Etheline, are separating. The scene
then evolves into a short explanation of how each child experiences
great success at a very young age. Chas is a math and business genius,
from whom Royal steals money. Margot is adopted, and was awarded a grant
for a play that she wrote in the ninth grade. Richie is a tennis prodigy
and artist. He expresses his love for adopted sister Margot through
many paintings. Royal takes him on regular outings, to which neither of
the other children are invited. Eli Cash is the Tenenbaums' neighbor,
and Richie's best friend.
22 years later, Royal is kicked out of the hotel he has been living
in. Meanwhile, all of the Tenenbaum children are in a post-success
slump. Richie is traveling the world in a cruise ship
following a breakdown; he writes a letter to Eli saying that he is in
love with Margot. Chas has become extremely overprotective of his two
sons, Ari and Uzi, following his wife Rachael's death in a plane crash.
Margot is married to neurologist
Raleigh St. Clair, from whom she hides her smoking and her checkered
past. Raleigh is conducting research on a subject named Dudley
Heinsbergen. Etheline's accountant, Henry Sherman, proposes to her.
Given the news that Etheline is considering marrying Henry, Royal devises a plan to convince Etheline that he has stomach cancer
in order to win her and his children's affections back. He tells
Etheline of his cancer, moves in, and sets up medical equipment in
Richie's room. Etheline calls each of her children home. Royal learns of
Chas' overprotective nature and decides to take his grandsons out on an
adventure involving shoplifting and dog fighting. Upon their return, Chas berates him for endangering his boys. Royal accuses Chas of having a nervous breakdown.
Eli, with whom Margot has been having an affair, tells her that
Richie loves her. Royal discovers the affair and objects to Margot's
treatment of Raleigh, who confides to Richie his suspicions of Margot.
He and Richie then hire a private investigator to spy on her.
Henry investigates Royal's cancer claim and discovers the hospital
had closed years before, his doctor is fake, and that his cancer
medication is just Tic Tacs. He then confronts Pagoda, and gathers the whole family to tell them what he's discovered; after which, Royal and Pagoda leave.
Richie and Raleigh get the private eye's report on Margot. Upon
hearing it, Raleigh only comments on her smoking but Richie takes the
news much harder. He goes into the bathroom, shaves off his beard and
most of his hair, and calmly slits his wrists. Dudley finds him in a
pool of blood, and Raleigh rushes him to the hospital. Soon after, as
the Tenenbaums sit in the waiting room, Raleigh confronts Margot before
leaving. Later, Richie escapes the hospital and meets with Margot. They
share with each other their secret love and kiss.
Royal decides that he wants Etheline to be happy and has arranged for
the two of them to be divorced. Before Henry and Etheline's wedding,
Eli, high on mescaline,
crashes his car into the side of the house, narrowly missing Ari and
Uzi, whom Royal moves out of the way. Enraged, Chas chases Eli through
the house; when he catches up to him, the two wrestle to the ground. Eli
realizes that he needs serious help and Chas agrees that he needs help
as well. Chas thanks Royal for saving his sons. Forty-eight hours later,
Etheline and Henry are married in a judge's chambers.
Time passes and Margot releases a new play based on her family.
Raleigh publishes a book on Dudley's condition, Eli checks himself into
rehab in North Dakota, and Richie starts a junior tennis program. Royal
has a heart attack and dies, with Chas as the only witness. The family attends his funeral and leave together after the service.
Three grown prodigies, all with a unique genius of some kind, and their
mother are staying at the family household. Their father, Royal had left
them long ago, and comes back to make things right with his family.
Written by MonkeyKingMA
Director Wes Anderson and his longtime friend and writing partner Owen
Wilson follow up Bottle Rocket (1996) and Rushmore (1998) with this
similarly offbeat comedy about a dysfunctional family reunion. Royal
Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) was a successful attorney who had three
children with his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston), an archaeologist.
Each of the Tenenbaum kids was a precocious genius: Chas (Ben Stiller)
made a killing as a child investor. Richie (Luke Wilson) was a junior
tennis champ and
three-time U.S. Nationals
winner. The adopted Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright who won a
50,000-dollar Braverman Grant in the ninth grade. When Royal abruptly
left his family, however, it was the beginning of two decades of
betrayal and failure that would scar the Tenenbaums for life. Their past
resentments are bitterly held against Royal when he suddenly reappears,
claiming to have six weeks to live and a desire to reconnect with his
family. Typically, Royal's story is a sham, but his presence and sincere
desire for absolution soon have a profound effect on the Tenenbaums,
who are each dealing with thwarted desires and relationships. Among them
are Richie's lifelong love for Margot, who's unhappily married to
Raleigh St.Clair (Bill Murray) and Etheline's eccentric engagement to
Henry Sherman (Danny Glover), who wishes to marry her. The Royal
Tenenbaums also co-stars Owen Wilson and features narration provided by
Alec Baldwin. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_Aquatic_with_Steve_Zissou
While oceanographer and documentarian Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is working on his latest documentary at sea, his best friend Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel)
is eaten by a creature Zissou describes as a "Jaguar shark." For his
next project, Zissou is determined to document the shark's destruction.
The crew aboard Zissou's research vessel Belafonte includes Pelé dos Santos (Seu Jorge), a safety expert and Brazilian musician who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese, and Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe), the German second-in-command who viewed Zissou and Esteban as father figures.
Minor crew members include Vikram Ray (Waris Ahluwalia), a Sikh
cameraman, described in Zissou's film documentary as a man "born on the
Ganges"; Bobby Ogata (Niels Koizumi), a frogman who is usually seen
eating; Vladimir Wolodarsky (Noah Taylor), original score composer; Renzo Pietro (Pawel Wdowczak), screen editor; and Anne-Marie Sakowitz (Robyn Cohen),
script girl, who is often topless. "Team Zissou" also includes a pack
of unpaid college interns from the University of North Alaska.
Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson) is a polite Southern
gentleman whose mother has recently died. He believes that Zissou is
his father. After they meet at a film premiere, Ned takes a break from
his job as an airline pilot in Kentucky
to join Zissou's crew. As no one else will finance the latest
documentary, Ned agrees to support the new film with his inheritance.
A reporter, Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett),
comes to chronicle the voyage. She is also pregnant with her married
boss's child. A rivalry develops between Ned and Zissou, both infatuated
with Jane. Klaus also is envious of the attention Zissou pays to Ned.
On their mission to find the Jaguar shark, the Belafonte crew has to deal with an attack by pirates.
Sakowitz, along with all but one of the interns, jumps ship after the
raid. The interns who leave receive "incomplete" grades for the course.
The Belafonte crew launches a sneak attack on the pirates to retrieve their money and rescue a "bond company stooge" (Bud Cort) who had been hired by Zissou's producer Oseary Drakoulias (Michael Gambon). They also discover and rescue Zissou's nemesis, Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum). Hennessey is successful, suave, and rich, and was once married to Zissou's wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston).
While searching for the shark, the ship's helicopter crashes, injuring Zissou and fatally injuring Ned. A puzzled Eleanor reveals to Jane that Zissou is actually sterile and therefore Ned could not have been his son.
Zissou finally tracks down the shark but decides not to kill it, both
because of its beauty and not having any dynamite. Viewing the shark
finally validates an existence that Zissou himself had feared might have
become meaningless. Eleanor is moved by this and falls in love with
Zissou all over again. The finished documentary is a hit; and Zissou
wins an award, regaining respect worldwide.
When his partner is killed by the mysterious and possibly nonexistent
Jaguar Shark, Steve Zissou and his Team Zissou crew set off for an
expedition to hunt down the creature. Along with his estranged wife, a
beautiful journalist and a co-pilot who could possibly be Zissou's son,
the crew set off for one wild expedition.
Written by FilmFanUK
The first effort from director Wes Anderson since his critically beloved
The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou finds the
filmmaker re-teaming with a number of familiar faces, including Bill
Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, and Seymour Cassel. Murray plays
Steve Zissou, an eccentric and renowned oceanographer who has decided to
seek out and enact mortal revenge on a shark that ate one of the men on
his team. Along for the ride is Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a young man
who
has joined Zissou's crew
after showing up claiming to be the seaman's long-lost son and Zissou's
co-producer (and estranged wife), Eleanor Angelica Huston. As the
expedition ensues, the two bond and Plimpton falls for a female
journalist (Cate Blanchett) who is writing a piece on Zissou. The crew
meets a host of obstacles on their journey, including pirates,
kidnapping, and bankruptcy. Adding a flair of whimsy to the film's
aesthetic, the sea creatures and underwater scenes in the film have been
created using stop-motion animation under the direction of Henry
Selick, the man behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the
Giant Peach. The ensemble cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff
Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, and Bud Cort. ~ Matthew Tobey,
Rovi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darjeeling_Limited
A North American businessman in India (Bill Murray)
runs after but fails to catch his train as it pulls out of a station in
India. He is beaten to it by a younger man, Peter Whitman (Adrien Brody), who is carrying heavy luggage. Peter reunites with his brothers Francis (Owen Wilson) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) on the luxury train called "The Darjeeling Limited", which is traveling across India. The brothers have not seen each other since their father's funeral a year earlier in New York.
Francis, the oldest of the three brothers, has planned their journey
in advance. The journey is supposed to culminate in a reunion with their
mother, who is running a convent in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Francis conceals the real reason for the trip, telling his brothers that
they are making the journey for spiritual
self-discovery. Francis' brothers are not convinced of this, and get
annoyed with Francis' controlling behaviour such as choosing from the
menu for them, which turns out to be a trait inherited from their
mother. With his assistant Brendan's help, Francis draws up a detailed
itinerary for the trip. He also takes his brothers' passports to prevent
them from getting off the train too early. Francis, who was badly
injured in a motorcycle accident, wears bandages on his head throughout
the film. The youngest Whitman, Jack, has written a short story which is
strikingly similar to his own life. However, he denies those
similarities. Jack obsessively listens to the messages on his
ex-girlfriend's answering machine at every stop the train makes.
Moreover, he has a fling with the train's beautiful stewardess Rita (Amara Karan), whom Francis nicknames "Sweet Lime" for the drinks she repeatedly offers.
Peter, the middle brother, justifies his keeping many of his late
father's possessions, including his spectacles, which he wears even
though they are not the right prescription, by claiming that he was
their father's favorite. His wife, Alice (Camilla Rutherford), is expecting a baby, but Peter fears that their relationship may end in divorce.
At first, the three brothers get high on a cocktail of locally made
drugs and pharmaceutical products. In their trips through the Indian
provinces, they visit temples and markets. At one market, Francis has
one of his $3000 loafers stolen by a shoe-shine boy, and Peter buys a
cobra, which later escapes from its transport container. This escape
results in the brothers being confined to their cabins. Francis and
Peter get into a fight over Peter being the "favorite" and Jack uses the
pepper spray he bought in the village to mace his brothers until they
stop fighting. This is the last straw for the train's Chief Steward (Waris Ahluwalia),
who is also Rita's boyfriend, and whom the three brothers have
repeatedly annoyed. He throws the three of them off the train with all
their luggage, leaving them in the desert. The three brothers become
close again and even perform one of Francis' spiritual rituals. On their
way back to civilization, they see three young boys get into trouble
while attempting to pull a raft across a fast-flowing river. Jack and
Francis rescue two of the boys, but Peter fails to save the third. This
affects Peter deeply. In the boys' village, the three brothers are
befriended by the villagers and attend the boy's funeral.
(In a flashback,)
the three brothers and Alice are on the way to their father's funeral.
They stop on the way to pick up their father's Porsche from the repair
shop and take it with them, but the car isn't ready yet so the brothers
leave.
(Back in the present,) the Whitmans get on a bus, which takes them
from the village to the airport. The brothers stop for a bathroom break,
during which Francis removes his bandages to shave, which reveals a
number of large, bright scars on his face, but his brothers offer
marginal reserved comfort. However, just as they are getting on the
plane, they change their minds and decide to go and visit their mother,
even though she has sent them a message telling them that their visit is
not convenient. The three brothers travel to their mother's convent.
The reunion is very emotional (it is learned that Francis's accident
was, in fact, a suicide attempt) and the family is reunited for a time.
The next morning, the three brothers find that the mother has again left
her family and her children.
On the way back the three brothers run for a just-departed train, and
jettison all their baggage on the railway line as they and some porters
run after the train. Jack reads his new short story, which tells the
story of his meeting with his ex-girlfriend in the Hotel Chevalier, and
gives in, accepting that it is representative of his own life.
Francis wants to give the passports back to his brothers, but they
decide that they are safer with him. The Chief Steward (who has kept
Peter's snake as a pet), the businessman from the beginning, and Jack's
ex-girlfriend (Natalie Portman) look out contemplatively.
A year after the accidental death of their father, three drug-addicted
brothers -- each suffering from depression - meet for a train trip
across India. Francis, the eldest, has organized it. The brothers argue,
sulk, resent each other, and fight. The youngest, Jack, estranged from
his girlfriend, is attracted to one of the train's attendants. Peter has
left his pregnant wife at home, and he buys a venomous snake. After a
few days, Francis discloses their surprising and disconcerting
destination. Amid foreign surroundings, can the brothers sort out their
differences? A funeral, a meditation, a hilltop ritual, and the Bengal
Lancer figure in the reconciliation.
Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Mr._Fox_%28film%29
While raiding a squab farm, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and his wife Felicity (Meryl Streep)
trigger a fox trap and become caged. Felicity reveals to Fox that she
is pregnant and pleads with him to find a safer job should they escape.
Two years later (12 in Fox Years), the Foxes and their sullen son Ash (Jason Schwartzman),
are living in a hole. Fox, now a newspaper columnist, moves the family
into a better home in the base of a tree, ignoring the warnings of his
lawyer Badger (Bill Murray)
about how dangerous the area is for foxes. The tree is located very
close to facilities run by three mean farmers- Walter Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Nathan Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Franklin Bean (Michael Gambon). Soon after the Foxes move in, Felicity's nephew Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) comes to live with them, as his father has become very ill with double pneumonia.
Ash finds this situation intolerable; his soft-spoken cousin is
apparently superior to him at sports, and everyone, including his
father, Mr Fox, is charmed by Kristofferson at Ash's expense.
Fox and the opossum who works as a building superintendent, Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky),
steal produce and poultry from the three farms. The farmers decide to
kill Fox and camp out near the family's tree. When he emerges the
farmers open fire, but only manage to shoot off his tail. They then
attempt to dig Fox out. After demolishing the site of the tree, the
farmers discover the Foxes have dug an escape tunnel.
Reasoning that the Foxes will have to surface for food and water, the
farmers lie in wait at the tunnel mouth. Underground, Fox encounters
Badger and many other local animal residents whose homes have also been
destroyed. As the animals begin fearing starvation, Fox leads a digging
expedition to tunnel to the three farms, robbing them clean. While the
other animals feast, Ash and Kristofferson, beginning to reconcile after
Kristofferson defended Ash from a bully, return to Bean's farm,
intending to reclaim Mr Fox's tail. When they are interrupted by the
arrival of Bean's wife, Ash escapes but Kristofferson is captured.
Discovering that Fox has stolen their produce, the farmers flood the
animals' tunnel network with cider. The animals are forced into the
sewers, and Fox learns that the farmers plan to use Kristofferson to
lure him into an ambush. The animals are confronted by Rat (Willem Dafoe), Bean's security guard. After a struggle with Fox leaves him mortally wounded, Rat divulges Kristofferson's location.
Fox asks the farmers for a meeting in town near the sewer hub; he
will surrender in exchange for Kristofferson's freedom. The farmers set
up an ambush, but Fox and the others anticipate it and launch a
counterattack. Fox, Ash and Kylie slip into Bean’s farm. A much-matured
Ash frees Kristofferson and braves enemy fire to release a rabid beagle to keep the farmers at bay.
The animals become accustomed to living in the sewers with others
considering moving in. Ash and Kristofferson settle their differences
and become good friends. Fox leads his family to a drain opening built
into the floor of a supermarket
owned by the three farmers. Celebrating their new food source and the
news that Felicity is pregnant again, the animals dance in the aisles.
It is the story of one Mr. Fox and his wild-ways of hen heckling, turkey
taking and cider sipping, nocturnal, instinctive adventures. He has to
put his wild days behind him and do what fathers do best: be
responsible. He is too rebellious. He is too wild. He is going to try
"just one more raid" on the three nastiest, meanest farmers that are
Boggis, Bunce and Bean. It is a tale of crossing the line of family
responsibilities and midnight adventure and the friendships and
awakenings of this country life that is inhabited by Fantastic Mr. Fox
and his friends.
Written by Cinema_Fan
A wily fox uses his formidable cunning to outsmart three feeble-minded
farmers, who resort to extreme tactics to protect their chickens in
director Wes Anderson's animated adaptation of the popular Roald Dahl
children's book. For 12 years, Mr. and Mrs. Fox (voices of George
Clooney and Meryl Streep) have lived a peaceful life in the wilderness
with their son, Ash (voice of Jason Schwartzman). Shortly after their
young nephew Kristofferson (voice of Eric Anderson) arrives for a visit,
Mr. Fox's
long-suppressed animal
instincts begin to take over and the faithful family man resorts back to
his old ways as a cunning chicken thief, endangering not only his
family but the entire animal community as well. When evil farmers
Boggis, Bunce, and Bean force the animals underground in a desperate
attempt to capture the audacious Mr. Fox, dwindling food supplies force
the frightened animals to band together in one last attempt to fight for
the land that is rightfully theirs. Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem
Dafoe, and Owen Wilson provide additional voices. ~ Jason Buchanan,
Rovi
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