


The material the film is drawing from is a children’s text so you’d expect it to paint with wider and brighter colours than a film aimed at adults, but even I was surprised at just how pastoral and softly spoken the film appeared to be. One can sense homages to a number of other (better) films here, including Birdman, Batman, the Shaun The Sheep Movie, Paddington and a slew of others I probably missed, and the aforementioned Titanic gag references pay off in quite a lovely and unexpectedly brutal way. Instead, Copeland’s script, while sporadically enthusiastic, tends to half-ass its way through maudlin tropes and self-congratulatory humour, often hindered by inconclusive character motivation and an all-too-cheesy villain in Danny Pudi. Brad Copeland (director of Ferdinand and Spies In Disguise) takes up writing duties here, shoehorning in some competent young adult themes of inclusivity, family, loss (William Spiver’s backstory is quite the dark opus!) and friendship, but at no point does the film really grab hold of a singular theme and contort it to an appropriate level of usefulness. In spite of a sputtering, melancholy pacing and a whisper-quiet sense of humour, Flora & Ulysses offers the gleeful cutesy whim of a knock-off Paddington and the deeper, darker subtext belying its pastel-hued Disney+ sensibility. Flora & Ulysses doesn’t quite, but it’s an enjoyable if aimless romp nonetheless. Upon his revival, Ulysses exhibits some cool superpowers, including flight and the ability to type English onto a typewriter Flora is naturally excited and, together with George, and her new “blind” neighbour William Spiver (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), they race to protect their furry friend from the dastardly machinations of local gamekeeper and squirrel destroyer Miller (Danny Pudi), who wants to kill Ulysses to protect the city from “squirrel rabies”.Īny film that opens with a comic-book-centric narrative and expectations of plot parallels within its contextualised superhero motifs has to deliver. One day, Flora meets a tiny squirrel, Ulysses, who is nearly killed after an automated vacuum cleaner accident. Her father, George (Ben Schwartz), an aspiring comic book artist, has left after hitting a creative abyss, which Phyllis tried to fill but couldn’t. Self-described cynic and comic book geek Flora (Matilda Lawler – Evil) lives with her romance author mother Phyllis (Alyson Hannigan – American Pie, How I Met Your Mother) and dreams of her parents getting back together. The film might colour well within the lines, and offers sentimental Disney at its most saccharine, but the enthusiasm Flora & Ulysses exudes for its subject matter, together with winning performances from the entire cast, make for uplifting if not altogether exciting viewing. Aimed squarely at younger children who found the Lady & The Tramp remake and the Chipmunk films entertaining, Lena Khan’s meandering and joyful take on the property has oodles of heart, plenty of amusing sight gags – an ongoing Titanic reference chief among them – and some quite delightful visual effects, not the least of which is the titular Ulysses, a cheeky all-CG superpowered squirrel who warms the heart and teaches us all a valuable lesson in friendship and family. The latest popular children’s book to make the transition to live-action feature film, Kate DiCamillo’s genteel novel “Flora & Ulysses”, can best be described as both genteel and cute. Synopsis: The adventures of a young girl, and a squirrel with superpowers. Principal Cast : Matilda Lawler, Alyson Hannigan, Ben Schwartz, Anna Deavere Smith, Danny Pudi, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Janeane Garofalo, Kate Micucci, John Kassir, Darien Martin, Bobby Moynihan.
