MOVIES about children with mental afflictions tend to bring out the maudlin worst in filmmakers, which is thankfully not the case with Daniel Barnz’s poignant, magical and assured directorial debut, “Phoebe in Wonderland.”
Barnz is greatly abetted by a terrific ensemble headed by the titular performance of Elle Fanning, Dakota’s more talented younger sister.
Phoebe’s mother (Felicity Huffman, in a touching variation on her “Desperate Housewives” role) tries to rationalize the 8-year-old’s increasingly disturbing and disruptive behavior, including spitting at classmates, as that of a free-spirited and creative child rebelling against adult rules.
That becomes harder to do when Phoebe becomes more self-destructive and a psychiatrist offers a label for her symptoms, which include obsessive-compulsive rituals and verbal outbursts (the diagnosis, curiously not revealed until late in the film, is Tourette’s).
By this point, Phoebe herself is desperate to keep her behavior under control. She’s been cast in the lead role in an elementary-school production of “Alice in Wonderland” by the mildly eccentric yet sympathetic new drama teacher (Patricia Clarkson).
When a flamboyant classmate (Ian Colletti), cast as the Red Queen at his own request, warns her it’s not unusual for actors to be fired, Phoebe becomes panicked at this prospect as a mounting series of crises threatens her grip on the role.
Among other things, Phoebe becomes ensnared in fantasies in which members of her family (including her long-suffering younger sister) and school figures become Wonderland characters.
These somewhat threadbare sequences would have benefited from a more generous budget, but there is a formidable amount of acting talent deployed here – Campbell Scott is very funny as the responsibility-evading principal – as well as a generosity of spirit and psychological complexity.
One reason Phoebe’s mother won’t accept a diagnosis and medication for Phoebe is that she blames herself.
She thinks the youngster may be reacting to the mother’s frustration at putting her book (on Wonderland, as it happens) on hold to take care of her kids and her husband (Bill Pullman), who is also a writer.
“Phoebe in Wonderland” happens to be at least partly a Lifetime movie, but this special little film is no disease-of-the-week tear-jerker.
PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND A small gem. Running time: 96 minutes. Rated PG-13 (brief strong language, disturbing scenes). At the Angelika, the Empire.