“C” Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

“Inkheart” will die at the box office principally because the people behind it lacked the commitment to make it succeed. Based on the best selling book of the same name by author Cornelia Funke, it tells an intriguing story of a father who discovers he has the magical power while reading a book to make its characters come to life in the real world at the expense of someone disappearing and taking their place inside the story.

This creates all sorts of fascinating dramatic possibilities, most of them lost in this “almost good” movie. The problem begins with Brendan Fraser, who basically transferred his wooden performance from the last “Mummy” movie and recreated it here. While he has done some good dramatic work as I have pointed out in the past, he is going through the motions in “Inkheart.”

For those of you remotely interested, the basic plot involves the disappearance of Fraser’s wife and the mother of his only child, Meggie (Eliza Bennett), into the book when he was reading it years earlier. What is fundamentally bewildering about “Inkheart” is that the movie begins after the disappearance of the mother, and this devastating event is tragically left underdeveloped in any meaningful fashion. As a result, the movie was never able to create any significant pathos or dramatic tension.

That is particularly unfortunate given its fine cast. The multi-talented Jim Broadbent makes a small appearance as the book’s reclusive author, but he is given precious little to do. Helen Mirren is wasted as the eccentric aunt of Mr. Fraser, and her attempts at comic diversion fall embarrassingly flat.

The only two actors who hold “Inkheart” together are Andy Serkis and Paul Bettany. Mr. Serkis, better known for his role as the character Gollum in the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, plays the nefarious Capricorn, a cruel villain who has leapt to life from his captivity in the book. He is wonderfully treacherous as he tries to manipulate Fraser and his daughter to again read “Inkheart” aloud so that the despicable wraith-like beast called “The Shadow” can spring to life and allow Capricorn to conquer the real world.

Mr. Bettany plays Dustfinger, a lovelorn magician accidentally yanked against his will from his family in the literary world by Fraser years earlier. He is desperately seeking Fraser’s help in returning to his beloved wife and home. And while you sense the answer, you really aren’t sure if he is a friend of Fraser or of Serkis.

Regardless, whatever potential “Inkheart” had is never realized. While I will acknowledge that there are enough semi-scary parts, not to mention assorted monsters, that may fascinate kids under the age of 12, it’s not likely to hold the attention of anyone older.

In other words, “Inkheart” is a classic January released film. The producers clearly saw that they had all but trashed the film’s potential, so why not take a flyer on the movie audience and see if you can make a few million before releasing it to DVD? My suggestion is that you don’t take the bait, save the money and wait for the latter.