Paddingon Review: Marmalaud

Paddington is perfect in its intentionality and respect of audience. Not enough people talk about how insanely difficult it must be to make a tight family movie like this. It makes me feel like a kid and makes me want to hug my mom. It makes me want to dream big but also be safe and protect the things I love. It makes me want to spend less time on screens? It made me laugh. It made me laugh like a British person - watching the movie is step one in understanding that distinction. It’s damn near throw-a-copy-on-the-next-voyager-for-posterity levels of Britishisms, but in fantastically true British form it bamboozles the isms as it teaches them to you.

Suspending disbelief is the easy choice as you watch this movie. If you’re watching this movie and someone says something like, “how did no water leak out,” or “why does that band follow them around” punch them in the face and tell them to get the f**k out of here. 

Speaking of that band, what a choice. The music is lovely in the movie. Choosing music that isn’t “culturally British in sound” is probably an easy choice when scoring a child-friendly film (drinking tunes, classic rock, and medieval lute don’t really fit the bill), but that still leaves a lot of options, and the filmmakers chose right.

I guess that’s the more general thing about this movie that I love. Choices were made, and they are clear, and they are always to respect the audience. Evil sexy taxidermist needs to find out about Paddinton? Use a completely ridiculous plot-filler character to make that shit happen, and then never show him on screen again because screw him.  Thank you for making a choice.

That’s also why suspending disbelief is so effortless in this film. Within the first five minutes you know the creative overlords are aware of the quality of their characters and they ain’t wasting time. Eating your cynicism can only be done after proper marination in a brine of trust. Case in point - I have not marinated you-dear reader-in a trust brine for nearly long enough, hence you’re not hopping on for my shitty analogies.

The acting is lovely. The son isn’t great, but then again, his role is to make dad nervous. And if you can run for shit as an 8-year-old check that box. This movie doesn’t ask that much of characters except for mom, dad, and sexy evil taxidermist. And they deliver. They deliver in the way a mailman delivers mail to his favorite house with the adorable dogs. You need to nail performance as mailman for the dogs, but the fun levels cannot be contained by your professionalism. 

Fun just oozes through everything in this film. It seeps through. You want to jar it up and make a sandwich with it, and maybe throw that sandwich under the stupid new hat you just bought.  Sadness when it comes is welcome because you know that fun is around the corner.  That’s not how life always works, but Paddington knows that. Paddington just chose otherwise - that choice actually has me equipped for not-fun life tomorrow. Paddington is a joy, and I am ready to follow him anywhere.