The Tale of the Desperaux (U) (From Hampshire Chronicle)

The Tale of the Desperaux (U)

3:01pm Friday 19th December 2008 in Reviews

A visually colourful yet emotionally hollow fable based on the award-winning book by Kate DiCamillo. Every year a new soup is unveiled by royal chef Andre (Kevin Kline), but disaster strikes when an inquisitive rat called Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) falls into the soup, causing the Queen to die.

Consumed by grief, the King outlaws all soup making and banishes vermin from Dor.

However, plucky mouse Despereaux (Matthew Broderick) risks everything to save his friend Roscuro. There is little dramatic momentum to move this story along and the glum and gloomy characters fail to lift spirits.