FamilyFans Movies

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BALLET SHOES (PG)

Koch Entertainment LP

Plot Summary: Three orphaned girls are taken in by an English paleontologist, and each have big dreams for the future, to become a dancer, actress, and pilot.

Reason for the Rating: Smoking.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who was initially drawn to Ballet Shoes to see if Emma Watson, of Hermione Granger fame, could really act, but I was rewarded with an enjoyable and charming ensemble of talented actors.

Great Uncle Matthew (Richard Griffiths, also of Harry Potter fame) was an eccentric old paleontologist who developed the odd habit of picking up orphans on his wide travels and dropping them at his home to be cared for by his charge, Sylvia (Victoria Wood) and her nurse, before he was off on another travel again.

Thus they acquired Pauline Fossil (Emma Watson), a pretty blond child whose parents had drowned, Petrova Fossil, the smart tomboy rescued from Russia, and Posy Fossil, whose mother loved dancing more than her child and left her only with a pair of ballet shoes.

The three Fossil girls are brought up by Sylvia in Great Uncle Matthew’s absence during the difficult times of the 1930s. The girls vow to make a name for themselves in the history books, as Fossil is their very own name that belongs to no one else.

To earn money to send the girls to be schooled in the arts of dancing and drama, Sylvia takes in an assortment of quirky lodgers, whose talent and charm carry the movie (including Gemma Jones, Harriet Walter, and Marc Warren). The girls discover their dreams and talents (or lack thereof) at the school, and aspire to become an actress, a pilot, and a ballerina.

Based on a 1937 novel in the “Shoes” series, this movie feels very much like an adapted book, as episode follows episode very quickly and it doesn’t follow the typical arc of a movie’s story. I was left wishing I could have had a little more of each individual character’s story. But despite hiccups in pacing, the likeability of the characters, the charming period costumes and sets, make it a thoroughly enjoyable movie. One who read the book as a child will enjoy returning to the world of these three girls.

(So can Emma Watson really act? I’ll leave that up to you when you go see it.)

FAMILYFANS RECOMMENDS:

Except for a scene or two of smoking and drinking, it’s a very family-friendly way to introduce the next generation to the delightful Shoe books.

AFTER THE SHOW: 

• If you could pick any kind of shoes to represent you, such as ballet shoes, or running shoes, or high heels, what kind of shoes would you pick and why?

• Pauline made the choice to sacrifice her desires to help her sister Posy. Tell about a time someone in your family or friends made a choice to sacrifice in order to help you.

AV

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