“Speed Racer” a Video Game Come to Life

The 12-year-old in me says, “Wow, way cool!”

My older, dignified self scoffs, “Utterly preposterous and way too long.”

Both sides are right. “Speed Racer” is way cool, utterly ridiculous and too long at two hours, 18 minutes. It’s a flashy, noisy paradox delivered by those zany Wachowski brothers. You remember: the guys who brought us “The Matrix.”

“Speed Racer” is even more cartoonish and unrealistic than ‘The Matrix,” but that’s not altogether bad. “Speed Racer” is like a video game come to life.

Speeding cars defy gravity and all laws of physics. Heroic bodies are unbreakable and impervious. The entire world is more garish and colorful.

The 1967 Japanese anime origins are evident everywhere. The problem is that the Wachowskis have tried to create an epic from a comic book.

Emile Hirsch, so moving in “Into the Wild,’ plays the title character; a kid who lives for speed and the family racing company.

Mom and dad are Susan Sarandon and John Goodman and Speed’s girlfriend Trixie is played by wide-eyed Christina Ricci.

Speed was profoundly affected by the accidental racing death of his older brother Rex, and he has pledged to uphold the family tradition.

When Speed turns down a sponsorship offer from rich industrialist Royalton (Roger Allam), every dirty trick in the book is used to thwart his victory.

That’s pretty much it; with the exception of supporting players Matthew Fox as Racer X and Ji Hoon Jung as a rival Japanese racer-turned ally.

So if the 12-year-old within you craves adventure, this may be for you, but leave mom and dad at home.

Two stars

“Jellyfish’ is an unexpected pleasure from Israel.

Winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes 2007, “Jellyfish” is a parable about modern life with three interlocking stories centering on Batya (Sarah Adler), a young waitress, Keren (Noa Keller), a new bride, and Joy, (Ma-nenita De Latorre), a Filipino woman working as caregiver to a cranky old woman.
We never find out the identity of a lovely 5-year-old girl who washes up on a Tel Aviv beach, but she, like this fine 78-minute movie, is magic.

Three and a half stars

“Fugitive Pieces” played the recent Palm Beach international Film Festival and is now in limited release.
It’s one of 8 million stories of the Holocaust from the unique perspective of a Polish boy rescued by a Greek archeologist who immigrates to Canada. Like all Holocaust stories, it is bittersweet and touching.

Three stars

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