I consider myself a fan of THE BORROWERS after watching the BBC children's TV series in the early 1990s. Recently I read the original novel for the first time and enjoyed it; I also saw the fine Japanese animated adaptation of the story, ARRIETTY. So I was interested, if not a little wary, to see how this American version of the story would held up. It's worth noting that I'd never seen it before.Simply put, this is a travesty of a film and a huge disappointment for a true BORROWERS fan. Other than the central characters, the entire storyline has been jettisoned in favour of a bombastic, action-packed chase narrative in which the little people must team up to battle evil property tycoon John Goodman. This is about as far from the small-scale (pun intended) origins of the original Mary Norton story as it gets.There are a few lights twinkling away amid the garbage; I'll be the first to admit that Jim Broadbent makes for an effective Pod, and Tom Felton shines in an early role. Celia Imrie isn't bad as Homily, but she's no match for Penelope Wilton. The special effects aren't too bad for the year, and few of them scream 'obvious CGI' like so many Hollywood films today.So where did it go wrong? Well, the attempts to update the story for a modern American audience is a good start. The setting is some ridiculous 'netherworld' which mixes modern-day technology with 1950s-era Britain and America. It's ludicrous. Goodman's villain is poorly shoe-horned into the storyline and the subject of numerous fat jokes. Really? Is it right for a film to be teaching kids to constantly insult people due to their weight? The characters are badly written, the dumb humour consists of farting dogs and the like, and the whole thing has been dumbed down massively and lost the magic of the original. In the end it's just another soulless Hollywood effects piece.

I was so excited to learn that someone had adapted the Borrowers series that I had loved so much, but I found myself instantly disappointed. With the exception of Pod, Homily, and Arrietty, this movie has pretty much nothing in common with its source material. I'm 99% certain that the character of Peagreen was added to bring more boys into the theater. Though I like many of the actors featured, and the special effects were good, the plot was terrible, and the lovely story in the books was turned into one long "Three Stooges with Tiny People" gag. If you're looking for a faithful adaptation of the original source material, watch Studio Ghibli's "The Secret Life of Arrietty." Barring a few minor changes, the story and tone match the books perfectly.

This is an enjoyable and engaging rendition of the 1953 book, suitable for young and old. It has some odd inconsistencies for the more critical viewer - mainly the fact that it is an unequivocally British story, set in an unequivocally British town, yet some of the main characters (and some other aspects) are clearly and inexplicably American - but those quirks needn't detract from the excellent script and characterization. It's a good film to re-watch with the finger on the "pause" button of the video remote control - the details of the Borrowers' home and equipment are fun to spot. (Don't do that the first time, though.) It's also notable for the first teaming of Mark Williams, Jim Broadbent, and Tom Felton, all leading characters here as well as in certain later and distinctly better-known films.

The Clock family are Borrowers - small people living in hiding and borrowing full size human stuff for their homes. Dad Pod Clock has kept his family at home, so daughter Arietty and son Peagreen have no idea of a wider world, they only know that the first rule of being a Borrower is not to be seen by the big people. But Arietty is not only seen but captured by young Pete Lender, which coincides with the lenders being forcibly (and illegally) evicted by wicked property developer Potter so that he can demolish their home.This film has an air about it of using the original idea (I have not read the source material, so I don't know) and then doing its own thing with it: if so, it's not bad. The story fairly whizzes along, with John Goodman's Potter a suitably cartoon villain (just as well, given the Wile E. Coyote-type retributions he suffers for his wickedness). Production design is intriguing: the Borrowers world is nicely realised, and the larger world is based on 1950s Britain, but with many stylistic weirdnesses: heavy urban industrialisation, driving on the right, everybody in Morris Minors, mobile phones and monochrome TVs, and a colour palette comprising saturated secondary colours.The cast is good, and it is interesting to see a very young Tom Felton, unrecognisable under corkscrew ginger wig and huge false gap teeth. Only Flora Newbigin as Arietty disappoints, with some line readings which ring false.