All the Little Animals

A Phoenix pick

The moral(s) of this English story: the meek shall overcome the strong; it's the little things that count; all you need is love. A long-ago car accident has left 24-year-old Bobby (Christian Bale) with the mind of a young boy and a deep-seated love for animals. When Bobby's mother dies, his evil stepfather (played by Daniel Benzali as a cross between Darth Vader and Daddy Warbucks) plans to send him to a home, so Bobby runs away, hitchhiking from London to Norfolk. He gets a lift in a truck, but when a fox runs out into the road, he grabs the steering wheel, the truck flips over, and the truck driver is killed. Enter John Hurt as a man obsessed with saving small animals; he and Bobby become friends and partners, and when Bobby's stepfather tries to destroy them both, the fate of those who harm little animals becomes all too clear. Despite its in-your-face approach, Jeremy Thomas's film is a comfortingly gentle call to respect life, as well as a charming peek into the mind of a boy who has been too little for too long. Screens at the Copley Place Sunday, September 12 at 7:30 and 10:10 p.m. and Monday, September 13 at 11:15 a.m. and 1:45 and 4:15 p.m.

-- Jumana Farouky

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Film Festival Feature Films

| The Minus Man | The Tavern | Black Eyed Dog | The Last September | A Wake in Providence | Man of the Century | Pups | Dreaming of Joseph Leeds | Wisdom of Crocodiles | That's The Way I Like It | American Beauty | Mifune | Black Cat, White Cat | Hit and Runway | All the LIttle Animals | Me Myself I | The Alchemist and the Virgin | Trash | Old Man River | The Poet and the Con | Snow Falling on Cedars | Guinevere | East is East | American Movie | Rivers of Babylon | Two Ninas | Rats | Keepers of the Frame | The Runner |

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More Boston Film Festival information, film descriptions, and show times

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