The Triangle

Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Laika, Inc.

Everyone has an ideal vision of what his or her life could be. Whether it is something that is dwelled upon or not, the picturesque world with everything and everyone in their right place resides somewhere in everybody's subconscious. For Coraline Jones, this world resides behind a small door in the wall of her family's new apartment.

"Coraline," released by Focus Features, begins with the Jones' family moving into an old, pink house in the country that has been renovated into three apartments. Coraline is a young girl, disgruntled by her current state of affairs; she just moved into a new house and wants nothing more than for her parents to pay any bit of attention to her. However, due to the endless amount of work that both of her parents have to do, Coraline is left to her own devices. It is not long before curious little Coraline discovers a door behind the wallpaper in her living room.

Intrigued, she asks her mother for the key, but opens it only to find a brick wall behind the door. Nightfall brings a change to the state of the doorway as Coraline is awakened from her sleep by a troupe of jumping mice that lead her back to the door. This time when she opens the door, Coraline finds herself crawling through a tunnel with a purple glow. At the other side of the tunnel is a door that opens up back into a living room that looks exactly the same as the living room she came from, only different.

Everything on the other side of the door is exactly as Coraline would have it if it were up to her, the only catch being that everyone in this other world has buttons for eyes. At first, this does not seem like a huge problem, but when Coraline's other mother wants to sew buttons into her eyes it becomes one.

Henry Selick, director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," brings the same stop motion animation style from "Nightmare" to "Coraline," but this time with a new 3-D flare. "Coraline" would have been quite visually dazzling without the 3-D glasses, but ultimately the choice to use the technology was a good one.

The film looks fantastic and being able to see all of the landscapes in three dimensions makes it all the more stimulating. Most importantly, the 3-D effect does not cause for a distraction from the plotline or the characters; rather, it enhances the viewing of "Coraline" all around.

Aside from the visual aspects of the film, the quirkiness of the characters keeps "Coraline" interesting for each one of its 101 minutes. Leading the cast is Dakota Fanning as the voice of Coraline and Teri Hatcher as Coraline's mother from both worlds.

Hatcher excels with the dichotomy of her character, nailing both the sweet and sour-witch side of Coraline's mother. Ian McShane voices the awkwardly shaped, totally insane neighbor, Mr. Bobinsky, who has an affinity for mice and their ability to perform circus tricks.

Coraline's other neighbors, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, voiced by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, are two ex-actresses who play off every stereotype ever created about obnoxious actresses.

Despite the fact that this is an animated film with a PG rating, "Coraline" never really comes off like a movie for young children. The sewing of buttons into eyeballs throws the movie over that edge. However, for anyone that has an active imagination, "Coraline" is a visual masterpiece told in the vein of a dark children's book.

"Coraline" is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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