Gulliver's Travels
(PG), 100 minutes 3.5/5
I don't think Jonathan Swift had a Jack Black type of actor in mind when he penned his classic tale Gulliver's Travels in 1726.
But in 2010, Black (who plays Lemuel Gulliver) is the perfect man for this humorous retelling of the children's favourite.
Gulliver is a man
too scared to follow his dreams. He works in the mail room of the New York Tribune newspaper but lacks the courage to ask the object of his affections - travel editor Darcy Silverman (Amanda Peet) - out on a date.
He'll use any excuse to find his way into her office for a chat.
During one of these encounters he finds himself signed up to write a travel article on the Bermuda Triangle.
On his own, he must take a boat into these mysterious waters and write about what he finds.
Caught in a storm, he wakes up on the shores of Lilliput, captured and tied down by the tiny Lilliputians who inhabit the island.
Feared for his size, Gulliver must convince them that he is friendly and helpful.
And helpful he proves when the Lilliputians face an invasion from an equally tiny band of soldiers.
But Gulliver is undone by his big mouth. Some of the tales he has spun to the Lilliputians were more fiction than fact and they soon realise they cannot trust him.
When he's down and out, Gulliver decides that honesty and bravery are required if he wants to rebuild his reputation and finally win the heart of Darcy.
Black offers a lovely down-to-earth quality to the role of Gulliver.
His humour is irreverent and his cheeky grin is always welcome.
Gulliver's Travels crosses over quite nicely and offers good entertainment to both younger viewers and adults.
