Running time: 97 minutes
Starring: Dakota Fanning and the voices of Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, Oprah Winfrey and John Cleese.
Rating 7 out of 10
The American author EB White wrote three children's books: Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte's Web. All three are regarded as classics, and now his 1952 work is made into a big screen feature. Thanks to such solid source material which is sensitively handled by all concerned, this is something of a treat for those seeking out a genuine family film, and it should have special appeal for younger girls. Although Dakota Fanning is the human star of the picture, it's really the talking animals that steal the show here. Fanning plays Fern, a young farmer's daughter who one winter saves a pig named Wilbur from being slaughtered against her father's wishes.
Wilbur is consigned to the barn where a ramshackle crew of animals await him, but it's a tiny spider named Charlotte that captures his attention. Being an intelligent spider, she is able to weave words such as Terrific and Some Pig into her web, convincing the adult farmers that their porcine friend is in fact too special to slice into bacon.
Flawless CGI and a top-notch voice cast make this an above average affair: the likes of Julia Roberts, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey and Steve Buscemi all bring their characters to life in engaging and entertaining ways.
It's refreshing to see such an old-fashioned tale which works so well on screen: children's cinema currently seems dominated by flavour of the month voices and plots which rarely add up to anything much. Charlotte's Web is an exception to the norm, and the likely smiles on the younger audience members' faces at the end of the film will make this a worthy trip to the cinema.
Paul Hurley
