The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
Best2011Vote-1000x50

Review: Gulliver's Travels

This travesty is so pitiful, it isn't even worth getting indignant over
By PETER KEOUGH  |  December 21, 2010
1.0 1.0 Stars

 

Jonathan Swift's epitaph reads, "Where savage indignation can no longer lacerate his breast." Rob Letterman's adaptation of the great man's satire might nonetheless have him spinning in his grave. In a world where Swift appears never to have existed, Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) is a mailroom clerk for "The New York Tribune." He'd be happy to be one of the "little people," except that he has a crush on Darcy (Amanda Peet), the travel editor. To impress her, he submits some — appropriately — plagiarized writing samples and gets assigned to the Bermuda Triangle. There, he ends up in Lilliput, the land of little people, where he becomes a big shot, transforming the kingdom into a Times Square where every neon sign bears his leering image. Hubris, in other words. Then he learns his lesson: be yourself, or something. A side trip to Brobdingnag offers a Swiftian kick, but this travesty is so pitiful, it isn't even worth being indignant.

Related: Review: My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Review: Howl, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Jonathan Swift, Jack Black, movie,  More more >
| More
Add Comment
HTML Prohibited

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 02/19 ]   Bill Cosby  @ Symphony Hall
[ 02/19 ]   Interpol + School of Seven Bells  @ House of Blues
[ 02/19 ]   "MassArt Thesis Illustration Exhibition"  @ Fourth Wall Project
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: I AM NUMBER FOUR  |  February 15, 2011
    You might feel you've watched the premieres of half a dozen TV series after seeing D.J. Caruso's flashy adolescent fantasy. Or maybe as many recent films. But despite its lack of originality, I Am Number Four does offer a few rewarding moments.
  •   REVIEW: CEDAR RAPIDS  |  February 16, 2011
    In his fourth film, aspiring maverick director Miguel Arteta ( Chuck & Buck ; Youth in Revolt ) follows Capra deeper into the cornfield with this slyly complex and broadly comic farce about innocence, corruption, and the gray areas between.  
  •   SARA NESSON GETS AN OSCAR NOD FOR 'POSTER GIRL'  |  February 18, 2011
    In the Bible, they beat swords into plowshares. On Martha's Vineyard on July 21, 2008, about two dozen Iraq War vets recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder shredded their old uniforms into paper and turned them into works of art. Sara Nesson, a filmmaker with local roots (she's the stepdaughter of tire magnate Barry Steinberg), had helped organize the event, which was called the Combat Papers Project.
  •   REVIEW: GNOMEO & JULIET  |  February 09, 2011
    Following the blighted example of Gulliver, Kelly Asbury's vapid adaptation takes a great classic and makes it stupid for the kids.
  •   REVIEW: SANCTUM  |  February 09, 2011
    As the helicopter cleared the jungle canopy for the first awe-inspiring, 3D look at the stony maw of the Esa-ala cave system in New Guinea, I thought: sanctum? It's more like a rectum.

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2011 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group