Matilda

A delightfully twisted fairy tale that artfully juggles broad tomfoolery and sly drollery, along with a generous serving of sight gags enhanced by special effects. Even though it's being pitched primarily at younger moviegoers and their parents, pic is exuberantly quirky enough to please almost anyone. Read full review

Matilda is fresh and spirited, and while the edge on it keeps the film interesting, DeVito manages to tilt it expertly from darkness to light. [02 Aug 1996, p.E4]

Between the movie's frenetic bursts of energy, however, there's more than enough to enjoy, assuming you're not a Dahl purist. The best thing about the movie is actress Mara Wilson (who many will recognize from her role in Mrs. Doubtfire). With sleep bags under her bright eyes, and an array of facial expressions that ranges from shocked to mischievous, she looks as though she belongs in a Dahl-like world. [02 Aug 1996, p.N29]

The contrast of light and dark, good and evil, enlightenment and ignorance, innocence and corruption is the heart of this absurd, insightful, sincere, very funny fairy tale of a movie. The cast is uniformly superb. Read full review

Matilda doesn't condescend to children, it doesn’t sentimentalize, and as a result it feels heartfelt and sincere. It's funny, too. Read full review

Hardly a moment of Matilda can be described as either juvenile or condescending, and, compared with many of this summer's so-called mature features, that makes for a delightfully refreshing change-of-pace. Read full review

Clearly, a lot of grown-up types are going to despise Matilda: gym teachers, school psychologists, used-car salesmen, critics who like their family fare immobilized by homiletic virtue. But kids will understand. Read full review

A zingy self-empowerment fantasy for kids. Read full review

DeVito directed this wonderful fantasy about a brilliant little girl with strange powers and a sunny disposition. Using special effects DeVito creates a visual delight that seems more British than American partly due to the origin of the material and partly due to the playfulness of DeVito and writers Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord. Read full review

A sprightly fairy tale full of darkness and delight from seemingly unlikely movie collaborators: author Roald Dahl and director-star Danny DeVito. Read full review

Matilda, one of the darkest of Dahl's typically scary children's stories, has become a stylized, mordantly funny movie thanks to DeVito, who produces, directs and stars as Matilda's crooked dad. [02 Aug 1996, p.6G]

Not for kids, silly. The little devils will devour this deviously delicious assault on abusive authority figures like the cake gobbled by the story's gluttonous schoolboy. [02 Aug 1996, p.1D]

Luckily, none of the inconsistencies in tone and atmosphere can overwhelm Matilda's charm. The power of its narrative and the self-composed presence of Wilson in the title role -- DeVito has persuaded the child to underact the part so that Matilda is precocious, not obnoxious -- carry the movie resolutely to its happy conclusion. [02 Aug 1996, p.D2]

Centered on Mara Wilson's extraordinary young girl Matilda, the kooky fantasy is comprised of charm, warmth and screwball comedy. Read full review

Twisted enough by Mr. Dahl and given a jolt of caricature by Mr. DeVito, Matilda makes too perverse a tale for very young children. But this one has playful flamboyance and a dark verve that older children should appreciate. And it has a sweet, self-possessed little heroine. Read full review

Matilda, the funny new children's film directed by and starring Danny DeVito, takes that alter-family and creates a real-life fairy tale. Frequent use of vibrant colors like magenta and chartreuse, combined with unflattering camera angles and bizarre characters, give the action an unreal quality, like the land of Oz. [02 Aug 1996, p.B01]

DeVito's pacing stunts the eventual triumphs and gives devotees of Dahl's book one more reason not to trust anyone past middle school. [03 Aug 1996, p.2B]

I wish more had been made of the power of books versus the power of a studio's special-effects department. Read full review

I'm not sure what kids are going to make of Matilda and its perception of an adult world crawling with menacing, malevolent despots. They'll probably love it - and the film's resourceful, resilient star. Parents, on the other hand, might be squirming in their seats from DeVito's unrelenting send-up of the crass and the cruel. [02 Aug 1996, p.05]

Danny DeVito may not be the right man to be directing Dahl. The filmmaker who gave us The War of the Roses and Throw Momma From the Train doesn't have the lightest of touches. There's a streak of meanness in his films that can be explosively funny for short stretches, but gets tiring over the long haul. That's the case again with Matilda. [02 Aug 1996, p.F5]

Matilda is a blackly comic, delightfully off-the-wall picture that both kids and adults will lap up. Read full review