The Borrowers (2011 film)
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The Borrowers is a 2011 British television film, based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers.
This film takes place in a modern-day city, featuring a mostly original plot and drastically altered characters when compared to the original book -- the most notable ones being Spiller, who's been changed from Noble Savage to a Troubled but Cute biker boy in a red leather jacket, and the human Mildeye, who's gone from an evil, brutal Rom to an evil-but-bumbling professor played by Stephen Fry. Like the 1997 movie, it completely goes away from the "borrowers as a dying race" idea; here there turns out to be enough of them in one place to populate an entire underground city (built on the platform and partly on the tracks of an abandoned railway station). The critics noted, though, that while the movie had very little to do with Mary Norton's books, it still stayed fairly true to the themes and spirit of them, making it more of a Pragmatic Adaptation. Extremely pragmatic.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Neither Homily nor Pod were described as very good-looking in the books. In this movie they're played by Sharon Horgan and Christopher Eccleston.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Spiller tries to invoke this with Arrietty. Not played completely straight, though; she's enticed by him but quickly begins finding him annoying.
- The Atoner: Pod, or at least he feels so. The Borrowers view him as a hero, since he several years ago saved them from being discovered by humans and killed -- but Pod never got over the one little girl he couldn't save, his niece Eggletina. Her death is the reason why he's now being overprotective towards Arrietty.
- Big Damn Heroes:
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Homily: I don't know how much more I can take of this. |
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- Comedic Underwear Exposure: Happens to Pod when Jenny attempts to look at his anatomy!
- Death by Adaptation: Eggletina, who is set up as a Posthumous Character in the books, but is later revealed to be alive. In the film, there seems to be little doubt that she died.
- The Film of the Book: One of the many, many adaptations of The Borrowers. For some reason, filmmakers from all over the world are attracted to the book. Filmmakers from England, the USA, and Japan all had a shot at adapting the novel.
- Gilded Cage: Arrietty lives in luxury, with her father bringing her anything she could want, but is kept completely cut off from the outside world.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Borderline case with Mildeye; he is a genuine threat to the Borrowers largely because he's so much bigger than them, but he bumbles so much that you almost have to feel sorry for him when he loses out and makes a fool of himself. It helps that he's played by Stephen Fry, no doubt.
- Subverted with his assistant Jenny, who at first seems like a shy and awkward, but harmless girl -- only to reveal a rather disturbing sadistic streak later on.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Spiller. With a side-order of Handsome Lech.
- Hollywood Tone Deaf: Spiller, when trying to sing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
- Large Ham: Stephen Fry is about as hammy in this movie as John Goodman was in the 1997 one.
- Missing Mom: James's mother is recently dead.
- Race Lift: Professor Mildeye. In the books, Mildeye was a villainous Rom. In the movie he's a pompous scientist played by Stephen Fry. Basically the two characters have nothing in common apart from the name and the role as antagonist.
- Screening the Call: Arrietty is stated to have inherited a natural gift and thirst for adventure from her father. Pod, however, refuses to let her go out Borrowing, and unlike his book counterpart won't let himself be talked into it. He turns out to have his reasons.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: While she at first just seems to be a socially-awkward Stoic, Jenny reveals herself to be one. While Mildeye is simply interested in catching the Borrowers For Science! (and for personal glory), Jenny wants to kill and cut them up for the hell of it.
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Jenny: (pulling out a scalpel) Does this mean I get to dissect the little skebangas? |
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- Stepford Smiler: Homily in the early parts of the movie; she's keeping up a happy facade for Arrietty's benefit but only really manages to come off as delusional.