Matilda

5.00
    Matilda
    1996

    Synopsis

    An extraordinarily intelligent young girl from a cruel and uncaring family discovers she possesses telekinetic powers and is sent off to a school headed by a tyrannical principal.

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    Cast

    • Mara WilsonMatilda Wormwood
    • Danny DeVitoHarry Wormwood / Narrator (voice)
    • Rhea PerlmanZinnia Wormwood
    • Embeth DavidtzMiss Honey
    • Pam FerrisAgatha Trunchbull
    • Paul ReubensFBI Agent
    • Tracey WalterFBI Agent
    • Jean Speegle HowardMiss Phelps
    • Brian LevinsonMichael Wormwood
    • Sara MagdalinFour-Year-Old Matilda

    Recommendations

    • 90

      Variety

      A delightfully twisted fairy tale that artfully juggles broad tomfoolery and sly drollery, along with a generous serving of sight gags enhanced by special effects. Even though it's being pitched primarily at younger moviegoers and their parents, pic is exuberantly quirky enough to please almost anyone.
    • 88

      Boston Globe

      Matilda is fresh and spirited, and while the edge on it keeps the film interesting, DeVito manages to tilt it expertly from darkness to light. [02 Aug 1996, p.E4]
    • 78

      Austin Chronicle

      The contrast of light and dark, good and evil, enlightenment and ignorance, innocence and corruption is the heart of this absurd, insightful, sincere, very funny fairy tale of a movie. The cast is uniformly superb.
    • 75

      Chicago Sun-Times

      Matilda doesn't condescend to children, it doesn’t sentimentalize, and as a result it feels heartfelt and sincere. It's funny, too.
    • 75

      ReelViews

      Hardly a moment of Matilda can be described as either juvenile or condescending, and, compared with many of this summer's so-called mature features, that makes for a delightfully refreshing change-of-pace.
    • 75

      Entertainment Weekly

      Clearly, a lot of grown-up types are going to despise Matilda: gym teachers, school psychologists, used-car salesmen, critics who like their family fare immobilized by homiletic virtue. But kids will understand.
    • 75

      San Francisco Chronicle

      A zingy self-empowerment fantasy for kids.
    • 75

      San Francisco Examiner

      DeVito directed this wonderful fantasy about a brilliant little girl with strange powers and a sunny disposition. Using special effects DeVito creates a visual delight that seems more British than American partly due to the origin of the material and partly due to the playfulness of DeVito and writers Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord.

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