Leap!

As we're ending the summer movie season and entering, what I like to call it, the dead zone for films at this time, we end it with a light, whimsical, fantastical, animated film simply called "Leap!". Usually the season ends with a bang releasing one last big-budget film, but Hollywood chose otherwise. I personally believe this was a prudent idea so as to ease us into that dead zone lasting approximately a month or so.

 

In 1879 France, a young orphan named Felicie (Elle Fanning) dreams of becoming a ballerina. She and her best friend Victor (Nat Wolff) soon run away from their orphanage in rural Brittany to Paris, where she passes herself as someone else so she can enroll in the prestigious dance school, Grand Opera House as a pupil and subsequently compete for a chance to be a prima ballerina. Felicie ends up in a rivalry competition with another young girl, Camille (Maddie Ziegler) for a position in Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" with a famed ballerina only to end up in mortal combat.

 

Others to round out the cast are Carly Rae Jepsen as Odette, Mel Brooks as Luteau, Kate McKinnon as Regine, Shoshanna Sperling as Nora, Joe Sheridan as Director of Opera, Terence Scammel as Merante/Postman and Elena Punkleman as Rosita.

 

This was whimsically and beautifully directed by Eric Summer ("Valentine" (TV movie) '03, "Jamais 2 sans 3" (TV movie) '09) plus TV and Eric Warin (short). The characters are rich, alive and emit their respective emotions with just the right amount of finesse. Obviously Summer has the lion's share of the experience here, but this will certainly give Warin that learning experience to take with him to another project. It was creatively written by Carol Noble, Laurent Zeitoun and Summer based on an original story by Summer and Zeitoun which is based on an original idea  by Summer. What makes this work is that the characters are geared toward the kids, but the locales and the classical way this production is conveyed woos the adult audience, so it becomes a crowd pleaser with a mass audience appeal. However, at the same time, the premise by Summer, isn't overly original: one character has a dream of bettering themselves, so they take someone they trust on this trek to encourage them only to have obstacles in their way to reach that ultimate goal. We have seen this before, but I find it forgiving, because sometimes we need predictable to escape into. I will see another Summer film anytime.

 

This film says a lot if you're looking for a fun and entertaining movie. It has music, dance, humor, romance and adventure all rolled up together. And although it has predictability, it will still be enjoyable for all to see. Grab the popcorn and revel.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                    Rated: PG                                    89mins.