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‘Bookworm’ Review: Elijah Wood and Breakout Nell Fisher Are a Winsome Father-Daughter Duo in Handsome Adventure Film
With New Zealand landscapes and a quirky sense of humor, director Ant Timpson's deceptively small feature deserves a big screen.
It’s a charming escapade that brings Taika Waititi’s “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” to mind — in that, “Bookworm” is for everyone who takes their family road movies with a side of maturity, breathtaking stakes and a droll sense of humor. At the heart of the story is the 11-year-old Mildred (the terrific breakout Nell Fisher), a precocious tween being raised modestly in the Canterbury region by a single Kiwi mom working several jobs to make ends meet. While it’s nothing but predictable that the two would not only find the panther, but also a genuine understanding of and love for each other, the way Harvard and Timpson move the story forward still startles, entertains and wins hearts, with plenty of embarrassing dad jokes and tween eye-rolling to go around.
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