Matilda

Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Thriller

Danny DeVito	Harry Wormwood/Narrator
Mara Wilson	Matilda Wormwood
Rhea Perlman	Zinnia Wormwood
Embeth Davidtz	Miss Jennifer 'Jenny' Honey
Pam Ferris	Agatha Trunchbull
Paul Reubens	FBI Agent Bob
Tracey Walter	FBI Agent Bill
Brian Levinson	Michael 'Mikey' Wormwood
Jean Speegle Howard	Miss Phelps
Sara Magdalin	Matilda at 4 Years
Kiami Davael	Lavender
Kira Spencer Hesser	Hortensia

Director	Danny DeVito
Producer	Liccy Dahl; Danny DeVito
Writer	Roald Dahl; Nicholas Kazan

Danny DeVito's adaptation of the Roald Dahl book for children is mostly just fine, helped along quite a bit by the charming performance of Mara Wilson (Mrs Doubtfire) as the eponymous young Matilda, a brilliant girl neglected by her stupid, self-involved parents (DeVito and Rhea Perlman). Ignored at home, Matilda escapes into a world of reading, exercising her mind so much she develops telekinetic powers. Good thing, too: sent off to a school headed by a cruel principal, Matilda needs all the help she can get. DeVito takes a highly stylized approach that is sometimes reminiscent of Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Get Shorty, a DeVito production), and his judgement is not the best in some matters, such as letting the comic-scary sequences involving the principal go on too long. But much of the film is delightful and funny.--Tom Keogh