Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart

This one is an intersting film. Based on the book of the The Boy With The Cuckoo Clock Heart, it was written  by Mathieu Malzieu, a member of the French band Dionysos (that have a cameo in the ghost train scene in this movie) and also happens to be the director of this film! Clearly this is a personal piece for him as not only did he direct his own work, but the plot was also used in some of his band's music videos in stop motion & he voices the main character in the original French version, along with his partner, French singer Olivia Ruiz voicing the love interest Miss Acacia. Also, this was distributed by Europa Films, the same company that distributed another French animated movie, A Monster In Paris back in 2012. I have seen it & I do enjoy it! Anyway, the English dub features virtually unknown actors like Orlando Seare, Jessie Buckley, Barbara Scaff, Harry Sadeghi and probably the most famous of them all, Samantha Barks (Eponine in the Les Miz film) as Miss Acacia. So can this movie show the craziest of ideas can work, or does it feel like as a ticking time bomb? Let's find out!

 

Story: Since it is made in France, the story is a bit of an acquired taste for a foreign audience. It revolves around Jack, a boy whose heart is a cuckoo clock as he nearly died after being born due to it being the coldest of days. He must follow 3 rules: never play with his clock's hands, must keep his temper under control & most importantly, never ever fall in love. Yeah, it's never explained why he has to follow theses rules, but considering the other stuff that happens in this, it seems plausible! Anyway, he of course, immediately falls in love with a young singer & after an accident involving another man who's in love with her, he has to leave his quirky family behind & decides to go to Andalucia where she performs at a circus. The rest of the movie mostly involves their love story as he tries to fight the setbacks of his heart. By the way, there are a few sexual connotations in particular during one scene where Jack lets Miss Acacia 'explore' with his heart & the song's lyrics really don't help! It is actually a very interesting & I love the originality of the story as it never really resorts to cliches besides the third act, but the problem I have is the lack of cohesion. It's mostly inconsistent with how it wants to tell the story whether it's show don't tell or the other way around, which is especially apparent in the latter as there are scenes which go nowhere or aren't really resolved by the end mostly because of the focus on the love story. If I do have to mention something, it's that the English dub is very quick! I know, it's to do with the lip synching compared to the French, but it is very distracting! And if you're expecting a Hollywood happy ending...well...be expected to be disappointedI do think the story is very good & I love the originality of it, but the execution & lack of cohesion is what makes it suffer. My rating will mostly be based on the originality & creativity of the story, but the cohesion is just nitpicking for me! It's still very charming to watch!

Animation: Even if the budget isn't on par with Pixar or Dreamworks, there's no denying that the animation is amazing! I had to research the book it was based on & the character designs really respect the original designs, which makes sense since the author was also the director. It's very stylized with a realistic look yet being very caricatured, heavily reminding me of the works to Laika (specifically Coraline) & Tim Burton. Heck, Joe looks like a character Burton would make & would be played by Johnny Depp if it were live action! The character animation isn't really the best as sometimes they would speed up some stiff animation but it can get good & it is creative on the circus freaks like the 2 headed woman or that weird guy with the big ears. Thje backgrounds are very very creative like the characer designs & I love the detail on the architecture like the circus or just the streets of Edinburgh. Another part I love is the use of a pop-up book for the sequences when Jack or Miss Acacia travel via train. If there is one thing I must mention about the animation, is that it can get pretty freaky. Now, I'm not saying it's bad, in fact it works well with the film, but it can get pretty frightening whether it's the editing or the imagery! Also, may I add that some of the circus freaks are possibly some the most disturbing things I've seen in a recent animated film? As the movie goes on, it gets more & more clear why this movie is in animation & has to tell the story mostly in a visual form, & it is gorgeous to watch!

 

 

Characters: When it comes to the characters, there's a pretty small list & let's jut say they're not the most developed ones I've seen. First, there's Jack, a meek boy who falls deeply in love with Miss Acacia & has been due to his abnormality. I liked his personality being sweet & rather naive due to his upbringing, as well as romantic, essentially grows from a boy to a man in the movie & learns about the consequences of his actions. Miss Acacia, while mostly being qualified as the love interest, still seems to be open minded with Jack & her backstory with being an immigrant & having to leave behind her parents while on a raid does make some of her hostility understandable & shows that she's actually more similar to Jack than we think. Joe, the villain, is mostly the typical mean guy who's also in love with Miss Acacia & tortures Jack throughout his school life because of his heart. He's probably the weakest as we don't even know what happens to him at the end, even with his pretty cool design. Georges Melies (you heard right!) is portrayed as a young adverture seeking man who has just invented the film around the time of the movie (I don't know if it's historically accurate) & helps Jack with his conquest with Miss Acacia, kind of like Lumiere from Beauty & the Beast. The other characters in Jack's life like Luna, Anna & Arthur aren't in the film for very long, but are still memorable for their quirky personalities. And then there's Madeleine, the midwife of Jack's mother who eventually becomes his adoptive mother after the latter realizes how much of a better mother she'd be & is the one responsible for creating his cuckoo clock heart, is probably the best character in the movie. She may be strict towards Jack as his adoptive mother, but she's doing it for his well-being & doesn't want him to get hurt or die. The characters may not be the most complex or developed ones I've seen, but the simplicity of them is what brings the movie it's charm!

 

Overall this is a charming film with a simple love story despite the execution, beautiful animation & a cast of quirky & loveable characters! This is a must-watch for people who love Laika's films or French films like Amelie & even A Monster in Paris! Also, I would probably recommend that kids should stay away from this, not because of the freaky imagery, but also because of some dark themes throughout. And if you want to know, I didn't do a separate songs section as it's not really a musical, but the soundtrack is really really good! Heck, the movie is worth watching for that alone!
Story: 7/10

Animation: 9/10

Characters: 8/10

Overall: 8/10