Written by Vickie
August 26, 2010
Fun!
That’s what kept running through my mind during Disney’s latest “hey, let’s turn a ride into a feature film!” project. And, like its predecessor, Pirates of the Caribbean, this movie is cheeky, fun and generally a good time.
Set in the present day, the story follows workaholic married real estate agents Jim and Sara Evers (Eddie Murphy and Marsha Thomason) and their kids (Aree Davis, Marc John Jefferies) as their long-overdue family-getaway weekend is sidetracked by an offer too lucrative to refuse. When a mysterious phone call invites them to Gracey Manor, a mammoth, run-down and altogether creepy mansion that lies in near-ruin, they make a pit-stop to check it out. Its otherworldly inhabitants include Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), his morose butler, Ramsley (Terence Stamp), a pair of well-meaning servants (Wallace Shawn, Dina Waters), a sassy gypsy head encased in a crystal ball (Jennifer Tilly) and lots and lots of ghosts.
Once the family arrives at the mansion, strange things begin happening and a centuries old curse is revealed. Naturally, the thrust of the story then becomes solving (and lifting) the curse so that everyone, living and dead, can move on.
Filled with dazzling special effects, clever humor and slapstick physical comedy, Mansion is a scary movie for the whole family. Well, save for kids under eight, who might be frightened by some of the film’s more gruesome characters. The story is quick and light, and the action doesn’t really ever stop. Sure, the plot is pretty thin, but it’s enough to hold an audience’s interest and it creates characters we care about. And, of course, being a Disney film it contains a touch of sweetness and heart that’s hard to resist.
Murphy doesn’t really stretch in his role as a noble, if frazzled, dad being forced to play the hero, but that’s just fine, given the film. Stamp is excellent at the dry, perpetually unimpressed Ramsley, and Tilly provides many laughs as the smart-alecky seer.
It’s kind of hard to find a lot to say about the movie, except for the fact that, much to my surprise, I really, really enjoyed it. It’s a great popcorn movie and ideal for the upcoming holiday season when many a parent will be looking for something to entertain the kids...and themselves.
