All The Little Animals

Rating:
Summary: Easily enjoyable.
Review: A pretty simple yet intelligent film. Kind of makes you reconsider what constitues a happy life. I can see this being broadcast on the Independant Film Channel or Bravo as it's not exactly filed with the material typical of a Hollywood Box Office hit...all the more reason to see it. If you can enjoy movies without large amounts of sex and/or violence this would be worth checking out. Great acting by John Hurt and Christian Bale.

Rating:
Summary: "Of All the Animals, The Cruelest is Man."
Review: After accidentally stumbling upon this movie on the Sundance channel, I instantly fell in love with its mysterious and allegorical nature. Subsequently, I proceeded to purchase the book (by Walker Hamilton), which, in my opinion, is much better than the movie. When one ponders the meaning of "allegory", we automatically think of George Orwell's famous novel "Animal Farm". However, unlike Orwell's book, "All the Little Animals" contains more subtle insights into the forces of Good and Evil in life. This is probably the reason why the film and the book have slipped by virtually unnoticed in the world of great English literature. In fact, it was quite hard finding a copy of the book which I had to order it off of ..."Out of Print" section. All in all, this story has a powerful and haunting message, which can be credited to Walker Hamilton's brilliantly simple but amazingly complex writing style.
I believe Walker Hamilton's allegorical message is especially geared towards those of an intellectual nature-- separate from the corrupted minds of the masses. It calls out to all the Mr. Sommers in the world, all who are ostracized from society for refusing to uphold social conformities, beckoning them to watch over and care for "all the little animals" (which are the innocent souls such as Bobby Platt). We must be on guard then, ready to resist the wicked acts of those who harm innocent life (The Fat)-- always remembering all the little animals....

Rating:
Summary: "Of All the Animals, The Cruelest is Man."
Review: After his mother dies, Bobby Platt (Christian Bale), a mentally slow 24 year old, is at the mercy of his mentally/emotionally abusive stepfather (Daniel Benzali), aka 'the Fat,' as Bobby nicknames him. When the Fat kills his pet mouse and then threatens to institutionalize him, Bobby runs away from London to Cornwall and ends up in the company of an eccentric man, Mr. Summers (John Hurt), who lets him join in his "work," which consists of scraping up roadkill and burying their bodies nearby (though they really should have buried them *away* from the roads to prevent scavengers from getting run over as well. But, anyway, that's beside the point.) Mr. Summers also helps Bobby sort out the situation with his stepfather, though the confrontation ends in tragedy.

The message in "All the Little Animals" is an obvious one just by reading the tagline. However, if they were trying to make an connection between humans against nature and, in turn, humans against each other, it doesn't really work (save for perhaps the Fat), since Mr. Summers, for one, respects nature, yet hates humans. This is explained later when he confesses to Bobby a dark secret of why he lives such a nomadic existence, contrary to his vow to never kill. And even Bobby, being the gentler of the two, breaks this vow, in a way, at the end.

The cast is really good, though the story is kind of predictable (most of the time I could guess what was going to happen beforehand); but, overall, this was a good British drama. Rated R for some violence, which is mostly done to humans.

Rating:
Summary: All in all, pretty good
Review: All the Little Animals follows the off-kilter adventures of Bobby Platt (Christian Bale), a young man who's been left a simpleton by the long-ago car accident that damaged his brain but not his soul. He wholeheartedly loves animals and he's got a pet mouse named Peter, but Bobby has to keep Peter hidden from his wicked stepfather, De Winter (Daniel Benzali). Unable to handle De Winter's abuse any longer Bobby runs away, hitchhiking from London to Cornwall, where he meets Mr. Summers (John Hurt). Summers is a quiet man who's devoted his life to giving dead animals a reverent burial, and he trains Bobby to follow in his footsteps.

Even though the movie's title is All the Little Animals, there aren't any developed animal characters. Peter is cute, but he's out of the picture pretty quick. The rest are corpses, or depicted in wistful dream sequences (the fox is a fixture, and there's also an otter, a horse and a beaver). The human characters are sort of one-dimensional - particularly The Fat - but the actors are all superb. Benzali and Hurt's reputations precede them, but Bale is very underrated. That may change when his high-profile role of Batman hits the big screen, but as of now the general public doesn't know him. He's an actor of great range, proven by his equally convincing portrayals of simple and sweet Bobby Platt in All the Little Animals and diabolical, murderous Patrick Bateman in American Psycho shortly after.

Staci Layne Wilson
Author of Staci's Guide to Animal Movies

Rating:
Summary: Cut down on "The Fat"
Review: Bobby has "not been well" since a childhood car accident and has recently suffered the loss of his mother, leaving him in the charge of his evil stepfather, "The Fat". Faced with the choice of signing over the family department store to "The Fat" (against his mother's dying wishes), or being consigned to "a special hospital", Bobby flees to Cornwall and hooks up with the reclusive misanthrope, Mr Summers. Helping Summers with his "work", tending to "all the little animals", Bobby's world is idyllic, but the prospect of a reunion with "The Fat" always looms ominously on the horizon. Thoroughly British in concept and execution, "All the Little Animals" is a rewarding adult fairytale, with a refreshing air of romanticism. Christian Bale, as Bobby, demands affection and John Hurt, as Summers, is at his eccentric best. A malevolent Daniel Benzali, of "Murder One" fame, is successfully, if surprisingly, cast as the very English villain, despite occassionally labouring over the dialogue in an attempt to sound sufficiently plummy. The backdrops, from metropolitan London to Cornish countryside, are exquisitely shot and add to the fairytale flavour. In all, a beautiful film, only marred by being slight predictable, but then aren't most fairytales so?

Rating:
Summary: Cut down on "The Fat"
Review: Bobby has "not been well" since a childhood car accident and has recently suffered the loss of his mother, leaving him in the charge of his evil stepfather, "The Fat". Faced with the choice of signing over the family department store to "The Fat" (against his mother's dying wishes), or being consigned to "a special hospital", Bobby flees to Cornwall and hooks up with the reclusive misanthrope, Mr Summers. Helping Summers with his "work", tending to "all the little animals", Bobby's world is idyllic, but the prospect of a reunion with "The Fat" always looms ominously on the horizon. Thoroughly British in concept and execution, "All the Little Animals" is a rewarding adult fairytale, with a refreshing air of romanticism. Christian Bale, as Bobby, demands affection and John Hurt, as Summers, is at his eccentric best. A malevolent Daniel Benzali, of "Murder One" fame, is successfully, if surprisingly, cast as the very English villain, despite occassionally labouring over the dialogue in an attempt to sound sufficiently plummy. The backdrops, from metropolitan London to Cornish countryside, are exquisitely shot and add to the fairytale flavour. In all, a beautiful film, only marred by being slight predictable, but then aren't most fairytales so?

Rating:
Summary: "You'll rot there with all the other loonies."
Review: Bobby Platt (Christian Bale) is the surviving heir to the Platt department store and the fortune that accompanies it. When Bobby's mother dies, he's left in the care of his stepfather Bernard de Winter (Daniel Benzali) also known as 'the Fat'. Thanks to a childhood head injury, Bobby isn't 'normal', and his nasty stepfather tries to take advantage of Bobby by pressuring him to sign away his inheritance. Bobby resists, and his stepfather reacts cruelly. Frightened and confused, Bobby runs away into the countryside. Here he meets a peculiar hermit, Mr. Summers (John Hurt) who's dedicated to protecting wildlife and burying road kill. Bobby relates to Summers as they share similar values.

The film's breathtaking scenery and superior acting elevate the film from its somewhat mediocre plot. Hurt is an incredible actor, and I have tremendous respect of his abilities. However, Bale's performance is the truly noteworthy element in this film. The film is allegorical, and as such it also gains a curiosity factor. Allegory just isn't fashionable any more, and often justifiably so. The allegorical elements are interesting, but not enough to really energize my interest beyond the lukewarm.

On the negative side, for about the first third of this film, I had the feeling that I was watching some sort of perverse version of "Annie". You may remember that film--little orphan redhead adopted by shiny bald millionaire, Daddy Warbucks. In "All the Little Animals", the nasty stepfather looks like Daddy Warbuck's long-lost evil twin brother. That unavoidable fact, combined with the whole orphan thing, tainted my viewing. In addition, the ending was a huge disappointment for me. The film really had some interesting things to say about human isolation--those of us who do not relate well to other humans often relate extremely well to animals. The film illustrates the healing effects of animal companionship. On the reverse side, of course, cruelty towards animals shows the shriveled side of human nature. This is all charming, etc, but the horribly violent ending while underscoring the film's basic message created an uglier film as a result. I found the ending implausible and out-of-place--displacedhuman.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: I have to say I was looking so foward to seeing this film. The concept is wonderful. It's too bad the last 15 minutes are about the worst ending I have ever seen. A pleasant story of two lost souls with a common love of animals and the natural world. Suddenly it turns into some gangster horror flick. Complete with car chases, kidnapping and blood. It's as if this ridiculous ending mocks the entire film. As someone who deeply identified with both Bobby and Mr. Summers it was an outrage that this story would take this sensational, unbelievable turn.

Rating:
Summary: Rediscovering "All the Little Animals"
Review: I was flipping idly around the movie channels one Sunday in May 2002, and paused on a scene of two men walking through beautiful rural countryside. Something about this seemed to remind me of something. I continued watching, and when the topic of burying roadkill came up, I was hit all at once with the memory of a book I'd read in the early 70s when a young teen. I checked the info channel - sure enough, this was a movie version of that book, written by British author Hamilton. The book had been such a favorite of mine at that time that I'd re-read it a number of times and now, as I watched the movie, small passages and bits of dialog came rushing back. The oddest, most miraculous thing was that until this accidental discovery of the movie, I don't think I'd given a thought to the book in more than 20 years, even though it had been such a favorite. I thought the movie was fantastic. I kept thinking, How right for this to be made into a movie at this time in history, when animal rights issues and abuse-of-the environment issues concern so many people the world over. Christian Bale did a fine job, is very easy on the eyes, and is, I was charmed to learn, a supporter of animal rights. I thought the ending hooked up pretty well with the rest of the film. There was plenty of foreshadowing that the stepfather character was going to need confronting, and even if we sympathize with Mr. Summers, we know that the laws of the universe and of good filmmaking require that he's going to have to pay for having been a robber and a murderer. At the film's end, Bobby has grown into his best possible self, having gotten rid of the great evil in his life and matured into being able to carry on Mr. Summer's "work".

Rating:
Summary: EXTREMELY UNDERRATED FILM!
Review: It was strange- I woke up with my TV on at 4 AM and saw Christian Bale was on in a movie. It caught my attention, I checked the Info button and started watching. Incredible! It is surpringly, but pleasantly, disturbing at times keeping me locked into the film throughout. Not for everyone though- except it's not trying to be something for everyone, which is refreshing these days. to be, but I can definitely assure you it is worth the try. If for nothing less, watch Christian Bale's performance. He is, in my opinion, one of the best actors around today. After, or before, you watch this film, watch his other masterpiece "American Psycho". You will be in complete awe. For anyone interested, he is actually British- with a very thick accent!