As an ardent fan of LOST,
the first character who springs to mind when I hear the name “Eloise”
is Eloise Hawking, one of the most unsettling maternal figures
television has ever seared into my brain. However, the name has had a
prominent place in children’s literature for decades. While I somehow
have never read the Eloise books by Kay Thompson, I recently watched the
2003 made-for-TV adaptation Eloise at the Plaza, so if I get
tired of having an austere British matron materialize at the mention of
“Eloise,” I have a rambunctious six-year-old American to fall back on.
Sofia
Vassilieva stars as Eloise, the free-spirited blonde girl who lives in
the Plaza Hotel with her faithful caretaker Nanny (Julie Andrews).
Eloise is a whirling dervish, and Vassilieva keeps her in perpetual
motion. It’s exhausting to watch her dash here and there, zooming up and
down hallways, incessantly ringing the bell at the front desk, stirring
up mischief on the elevator. She has a very short attention span, and
it’s never long before she’s off on some new project. As tiring as her
movements are, that’s nothing compared to her tongue. The girl can talk a
blue streak, and she has no mental filter. “I always say what’s in my
head,” she explains early on. “It’s so much easier that way.”
Her
strategy is often exasperating to those around her, and her uppity
affectations – particularly the way she pronounces “rather,” one of her
favorite words – grate a bit. Nonetheless, her frank manner inspires
many of those in her acquaintance, and perhaps the strongest theme
running through the movie is the trouble that can ensue where open and
honest communication is absent.
Molly (Stephanie Mills), a sweet
high school senior, is afraid to tell her overbearing, high society
mother (Eve Crawford) that she wants to travel instead of going to
college and date not an aristocrat but a man who shares her passions.
Eloise’s harried French tutor, Philip (Jonas Chernik), is too insecure
to let slip that he would like to be that guy. Leon (Kintaro Akiyama), a
polite, sheltered nine-year-old who spends a whirlwind day getting a
taste of Eloise’s lifestyle, shrinks from confessing to his distant
father (Dennis Akiyama), recently widowed, that he wants to leave
boarding school and return home. Uptight hotel manager Mr. Salomone
(Jeffrey Tambor) is so focused on vainly trying to keep Eloise unaware
of the big event and the special guest that have the hotel in an uproar
that he can scarcely make the preparations. And Eloise’s own beloved
Nanny is too timid to tell the distinguished Sir Wilkes (Kenneth Welsh),
another longtime guest, how much she likes him.
Eloise simply
can’t fathom this lack of forthrightness, but she hopes to make up for
it with a little finagling. She may be a bit of a hooligan at times, but
she has a generous heart, and one of her passions is “fixing things
that are broken.” In this movie, things get more broken before they get
fixed, and there should be slapstick enough to satisfy the youngest
viewers, who will likely find the thought of having free reign to wander
through a posh hotel quite appealing. Adding to the confusion are
Eloise’s pug and turtle, who have a knack for turning up at inopportune
moments. While the chaos is a bit much at times, quiet scenes bring
balance; the heart-to-heart between Eloise and the pensive Leon as they
share a carriage ride through Central Park is simply lovely.
The
movie, directed by Kevin Lima, makes liberal use of Hilary Knight’s
illustrations, both incorporating them into the film and meticulously
recreating them in live-action form. I highly recommend the making-of
documentary in the special features, especially if you have little
familiarity with the books. It’s fascinating to see the close kinship
between the two art forms, and it made me appreciate the movie all the
more. The plaza is a gorgeous piece of architecture, full of splendor
and a touch of whimsy, and our glimpse of New York City at large is
magical.
While I confess Vassilieva wears on me a bit, she has
the perfect energy for the role, and there’s an undeniable charm to her
as well. Still, it’s the much quieter Akiyama who really wins me over. I
was surprised to see that this was his second and final film role; for
me, he is the heart of the movie. It’s also a treat to see Andrews
portraying what she describes in the documentary as “the anti-Mary Poppins.”
That isn’t to say that she’s incompetent; she’s just about the only
person who has any control over Eloise at all. But she is frazzled and
unkempt, with a lowbrow accent and a fondness for boxing and booze. She
is certainly not “practically perfect in every way,” but she is
practically perfect for her young charge. Tambor is hilariously
overwrought, Daniels and Chernik are adorable together and Welsh and the
elder Akiyama exude dignified kindness. On the whole, it’s a top-notch
cast.
Eloise at the Plaza is a fun romp for kids, while
adults can marvel at the care taken to recreate a beloved children’s
book for the screen. The movie may also serve as encouragement for those
who, like so many of us, have trouble being as communicative as Eloise.
The expressive and the withdrawn alike will have someone with whom to
identify here, and those on either end of the spectrum should not find
it too difficult to get swept away in the fun of the Plaza Hotel.
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