IMDb RATING
6.0/10
8.3K
YOUR RATING
Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, making an unlikely new friend in the process.Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, making an unlikely new friend in the process.Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, making an unlikely new friend in the process.
- Awards
- 5 nominations total
Kristian de la Osa
- Pepito
- (as Kristian De La Osa)
Bianca Strohmann
- Vicki
- (as Bianca Strôhman)
Eloise Eonnet
- Sylvette
- (as Eloïse Eonnet)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter this movie, Hatty Jones had auditioned for the role of Hermione Granger for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). She and Emma Watson were down to the final two, and the role went to Watson since Jones was considered too old.
- GoofsMadeline stands up on her hospital bed to show off her appendectomy scar. Her IV line is very short, so standing would be very difficult, if not impossible.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits and the end of the movie are used with the cartoon version
Featured review
Madeline is a typically troublesome young red-headed girl who is a ward of the church under the care of Miss Clavel. However just as good as she is at getting into trouble she is equally as good at working out a way out of it. When the kindly Lady Covington dies, Madeline's school loses its most ardent sponsor and faces closure when Lord Covington decides that he no longer has to humour his wife by keeping it open. Obviously none of the girls want this to happen, but Madeline must also deal with other problems as well not least of which is some sort of plot surrounding Pepito, the son of the Spanish Ambassador.
I had not heard of this film or the famous stories from which it had come but I watched it hoping for a strong child character in a strong family comedy drama. Sadly what I got was a very muddled film that has a couple of plots and forgets to do a great deal with any of them. I appreciate that the character is the heart of the film but that doesn't excuse how messy and poorly focused this is for the majority. It does have some good aspects about it and I can see why some older pre-teens might like it but younger than that and older than that might struggle. For me the main thing the muddled delivery did was rob it of a sense of fun and prevent anything flowing.
At times the tone is silly and childish, at others it is serious and intimate but it never feels like it is all in one movie and again fragments the flow of it. The cast try hard to work with it but understandably they seem unsure of the tone of the film (a fault that must be put at Mayer's door) and it shows. McDormand is solid but unspectacular while Hawthorne clearly felt that turning up for his scenes was enough. The star is of course Jones as Madeline. She is a strong character but not developed beyond what she can do herself. I have no vested interest in the character but I was a little disappointed with what they did. Daniels is poorly used while De La Osa is purely annoying.
This all might just about do the job for the older, pre-teen audience but younger won't care and older will want more than this delivers. A muddled film that never really settles down or decides what it is doing.
I had not heard of this film or the famous stories from which it had come but I watched it hoping for a strong child character in a strong family comedy drama. Sadly what I got was a very muddled film that has a couple of plots and forgets to do a great deal with any of them. I appreciate that the character is the heart of the film but that doesn't excuse how messy and poorly focused this is for the majority. It does have some good aspects about it and I can see why some older pre-teens might like it but younger than that and older than that might struggle. For me the main thing the muddled delivery did was rob it of a sense of fun and prevent anything flowing.
At times the tone is silly and childish, at others it is serious and intimate but it never feels like it is all in one movie and again fragments the flow of it. The cast try hard to work with it but understandably they seem unsure of the tone of the film (a fault that must be put at Mayer's door) and it shows. McDormand is solid but unspectacular while Hawthorne clearly felt that turning up for his scenes was enough. The star is of course Jones as Madeline. She is a strong character but not developed beyond what she can do herself. I have no vested interest in the character but I was a little disappointed with what they did. Daniels is poorly used while De La Osa is purely annoying.
This all might just about do the job for the older, pre-teen audience but younger won't care and older will want more than this delivers. A muddled film that never really settles down or decides what it is doing.
- bob the moo
- Jan 3, 2007
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- 古靈精怪瑪德琳
- Filming locations
- Croissy-sur-Seine, Yvelines, France(House exteriors)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $29,967,750
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,414,668
- Jul 12, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $29,967,750
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