Billed under the Family Matinee section of the Sundance Film Festival, today’s World Premiere of Fing!, an Australian-British production, proves to be one of the unexpected delights of the fest so far.
Based on British entertainer and children’s book author David Walliams’ bestseller, Fing! flies firmly in the tradition of whimsical and beloved family movies like Paddington, Nanny McPhee, Stuart Little, Peter Rabbit and, an offbeat favorite of mine, Hunt For the Wilderpeople, the latter directed by Taika Waititi who actually takes on the bumbling villain role in this one.
Walliams has written 41 children’s books translated into 55 languages, and this is one of his best. The witty story centers on 12-year-old Myrtle Meek (newcomer Iona Bell), a feisty child who knows what she wants and how to get it. Her well-meaning parents, Maureen Meek (Mia Wasikowska) and Christopher Meek (Blake Harrison), are at their wits end right now trying to find a present that will please her when she announces she only wants a Fing, her latest fixation. A Fing is a rare exotic creature known only to live in the lost jungle of Zybra, and dad being dad capitulates and agrees to go and hunt one of these furry creatures down on a rather chaotic expedition to Zybra to bring one back.
Turns out when he finally finds the damn Fing, it is a furry beastly cyclops who doesn’t want to be found. At the same time though, the Viscount (Waititi) who runs a failing business showcasing exotic animals realizes that what he needs to keep the place open and the banks away is indeed a Fing. So he sends his Nanny (Penelope Wilton) who has nurtured the 42-year-old since childhood (but stopped washing his back in the tub in his early 20s) to also bring back the Fing. Dad, though, is a step ahead.
When the Fing arrives and turns into a one-eyed wrecking crew, Myrtle decides on a whim she doesn’t want it anymore and orders her parents to return him. However, before anything can happen it seems that the Fing, who wants no human connection whatsoever, takes a liking to Myrtle and the bonding begins. In pure E.T. and Paddington fashion, creature becomes a welcome if messy part of her family. Dad and mom, who have worked for years at the library, set out to find a rare (lifelike) book deep in the vaults that explains everything about this rare furball, but that betrayal of their duties gets them fired by the straight-laced Chief Librarian (Robyn Nevin). The real action begins when the Viscount will stop at nothing, even flying in Poppins-like from the sky above to capture the Fing and put him on display. With Nanny now cheering on the Meeks, and the Viscount dead-set on achieving his goal, the story really gains traction.
As creator and star of the popular sketch comedy series LIttle Britain, Walliams and his co-writer Kevin Cecil have added sparkling Raoul Dahlish British wit and spunk to this screen adaptation, and also smartly add the Viscount villain who wasn’t in the book. When you can get Waititi to do his unique thing in a kid-movie performance that rivals Peter Sellers in 1958’s Tom Thumb, you do what you can to expand the story. Waititi steals the show, but everyone in the cast comes to play, particularly Bell in her film debut, a real firecracker of a character that works on every level but especially for any spoiled kid in the audience. Both Wasikowsa in a change-of-pace role and Harrison add color as the obliging parents, and young Sidhant Anand as Myrtle’s adoring friend Tyler hits all the right notes. Even Walliams himself comes in briefly as the befuddled Headmaster. And then there’s Wilton (Downton Abbey), the veteran British star who brings it all to her faithful Nanny role here and is a perfect counterpoint to Waititi’s eccentricities.
Director Jeffrey Walker oversees a first-rate production that has created a lushly appointed fantastical world come alive on the screen, and that includes the visual effects puppetry magic in producing the Fing himself.
Kids are gonna love this one, but I am betting their parents will as well.
Producers are Jo Sargent and Todd Fellman.
Title: Fing!
Festival: Sundance (Family Matinee)
Director: Jeffrey Walker
Screenplay: David Walliams and Kevin Cecil
Cast: Taika Waititi, Penelope Wilton, Iona Bell, Mia Wasikowska, Blake Harrison, David Walliams, Richard Roxburgh, Robyn Nevin, Sidhant Anand, Matt Lucas
Sales agent: AGC Sales
Running time: 1 hr 36 mins
