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Sylvain Chomet’s charming animated film, a hit with audiences at Cannes, stars a clubfooted grandmother and her obese dog whose determination knows no bounds. They set off in pursuit of her grandson, Champion, who disappeared while competing in the Tour de France, kidnapped by mysterious men in black suits. They wind up in the city of Belleville, where they team up with a trio of ancient singing sisters to free Champion, whose apparent inability to do anything other than ride a bike sets the tone for the film. Virtually dialogue free, Les triplettes is full of funny and bizarre images, often in the same frame, like the nefarious henchmen whose enormous square shoulders cause them to merge into one hulking figure as they walk side by side, or the triplets performing in a nightclub with a refrigerator, a newspaper, and a vacuum cleaner instead of instruments. Like the film, their music, a kind of freestyle jazz, is pretty sweet. In French with English subtitles. (78 minutes)
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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