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R: ARCHIVE, S: MOVIES, D: 02/12/1998,

The Wind in the Willows

Making a non-animated version of Kenneth Grahame's beloved children's classic seemed a dodgy idea to start with; casting the Monty Python troupers as Rat, Mole, Badger, Toad, etc. looks almost like cruelty to animals. This Terry Jones-directed adaptation is a study in frustration: the troupe put in a sincere, loving effort, but, inevitably, inappropriate silliness and cynicism break out. Eric Idle, with his cricket sweater and passion for picnics on the river, stands out as Rat, and Jones himself is an appropriately frivolous jodhpured Toad, but Steve Coogan's whiny Mole wears out his welcome in a hurry, and Nicol Williamson's Badger is stern but not subtle. A hilarious John Cleese is wasted in the tiny part of Toad's attorney, who delivers a passionate indictment of his client ("It's the best defense that can be made, my Lord"). Nobody's as cute as the original Ernest Shepherd illustrations.

The story is pretty much all Toad's motor-car misadventures; you'll find no mention of Rat's "Wayfarers All" reverie, the fieldmice's Christmas at Mole End, or the baby-otter search that leads Mole and Rat to the ineffable revelation of "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (one of the high points in all of English literature). Instead there's a protracted battle on the train, 007-style, and an interminable sequence at the end when our heroes are menaced with the weasels' dog-food grinder. Grahame wrote a children's book about animals that's smart enough for adults; this version barely seems smart enough for children. It'll please Python fans, but admirers of the original and other adults should tread warily. At the Brattle Theatre February 13 through 26.

-- Jeffrey Gantz