Gulliver’s Travels

When Jonathan Swift, inked Lemuel Gulliver to life three centuries ago never would he have thought that Gulliver would survive this far. A publication that has never been out of print since the yester years has finally made its way to the wide screen of Cinema. Many a kin, me included have read the adventures of Gulliver whilst in our early years as a childhood story and for the more the serious reader the modern novel. Rob Letterman, who has 4 titles under his name for direction has taken up the challenge to conqueror the contemporary seas with Jack Black – The New BIG.Set in contemporary times, Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) who has been acing the works as a mailroom employee for many years has been superseded by his fellow worker Dan (T.J.Miller), puckers up the confidence finally to approach his crush of 5 years; Darcy Silverman ( Amanda Peet). However all this takes a turn as Gulliver chickens out the last minute and ends up on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle and ultimately the Island of Lilliput.Jack Black since I first saw him in “Orange County” almost over a decade ago has always been “one of those actors” who always fares to bring out some comedy irrespective of the script. My firm belief is that for a release in Christmas, this movie had to have a character that appeals to the whole family. Since the movie is created on a very simple basic Juvenile genre of fantasy adventure Rob needed to find that one face that would fit the character. We have all seen Black in “Shallow Hal”, “School Of Rock”, “Tenacious D – The Pick of Destiny”, “Year One” and also heard him in “Kung Fu Panda”. I personally watched them all and I personally admire the sheer entertainment and Juvenile laughter he created on screen. Casting this movie surely must have been a challenge for the final compilation of the cast is strangely a perfect fit. Jason Segal and Chris O Dowd did bring the little men into farce filled life. Whereas Jack was the big hairy giant with his humorous lines from the larger world, the Lilliputian General and the Prisoner matched with equal fineness worked its way to a very soft climax.As the movie played its way to end, I was clearly confused if I am entertained or if I was not. This was a predominant factor for why I decided to put my thoughts out to you readers. At a time where movies such as “True Grit” , “Black Swan” and “The fighter” was released , Rob and his team surely found it hard to even remain in the US top 10 for over 2 weeks. However I believe Rob Letterman and his team safely and confidently treads the middle path of contemporary film making. The target audience being that for the entire family, this surely can be enjoyed by you all.Title: Gulliver’s TravelsCast: Jack Black, Jason Segal, Amanda Peet, Emily Blunt, Chris O Dowd, Billy Connelly, T.J.Miller, James Corden, Catherine Tate, Emmanuel Quatra, Olly Alexander, Richard Laing, David Sterne, Stewart Scudamore & Jonathan ArisDirected by: Rob LettermanRated: PG for brief rude humor, mild language and actionRating: 05/10