Richard_McGhie

So now that I've recently rewatched this adaptation for the first time since my teenage years, here are my thoughts: While of course this is not the adaptation that immediately comes to mind and/or is necessarily part of the conversation when it comes to some of the best-known adaptations of this timeless classic story, this is still such a fun adaptation. Is it perfect? No, not entirely. Is it more faithful to the book? Surprisingly yes, especially with the full inclusion of the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter which otherwise no other version had dared to include up to that point and yet I'll go on the record to say that that whole sequence is so beautifully well-handled and crafted here.

When it comes to the performances, everyone for the most part does a rock-solid job here from the main 4 all the way down to even the wonderful supporting performances and/or extended cameos from the likes of Anna Maxwell Martin as the Gaoler's Daughter, Imelda Staunton clearly having a ball with her 2 or 3 minutes of screen-time as the Barge Lady, Jim Carter as the Train Driver, Michael Murphy and/or Tom Baker as the Judge and even a nicely hilarious bit part from Canadian comic Mary Walsh as the Washerwoman.

Lee Ingleby is so suitably sweet, likeable, endearing and relatable as Mole that you'd just want to give him a nice big hug and he actually surprisingly provides the emotional core of the film.

Mark Gatiss is fine as Ratty. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's not necessarily a bad casting choice for this role per se but of the main 4, his is the performance I frankly have to single out as the weakest and I honestly don't know why. It's almost as if he's trying a bit too hard to overact or ham up this performance and honestly if I was the casting director, I would've picked someone much better suited to the role like David Tennant for instance.

Matt Lucas is strangely perfect for the role of Toad and just perfectly nails the essence of the character from the book: The way he chews up the scenery and carries himself, his line delivery, his facial expressions, the vocal inflections in his voice, his natural comedic timing, the way he sings Toad's musical passages from the book kind of eerily similarly to the way Terry Jones sings them in the '96 version, even the gut-bustingly funny comic insults he casually dishes out to Mole and particularly Ratty at the beginning. You can just tell through this performance how much of a true blast Matt probably had behind the scenes and how much he probably wanted to do this character true justice whilst at the same time bringing his own unique and fresh spin on the character. Just such a brilliantly fun, delightfully childish and camp and hilarious performance from Matt Lucas here, just absolutely loved his characterisation of Toad.

Speaking of brilliantly fun, the performance Bob Hoskins gives here as Badger is indescribably incredible to say the least and easily my favourite performance of the bunch in this movie. From the first time you see him onscreen to his posture to the way he contorts his face into almost a suitable badger-like growl to the cynically dry humour that perfectly contrasts with the more out-there and bombastic humour of Matt Lucas to the wig and minimal prosthetics they put on him to suitably accentuate his animal-like features to even the voice, he just completely transforms and disappears into this role. Plus, there is so much presence, so much understated nuance and so much gravitas to Bob Hoskins' performance that he singlehandedly dominates every single scene he is in. Not to mention that this probably rivals his Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit or Smee in Hook and/or Neverland (the miniseries) as the most fun I've seen Bob Hoskins have with any of the great performances he gave throughout his legendary career.

Especially if you're someone who watched some of the episodes of Sherlock and Doctor Who she's done since making this movie, of course you're going to expect Rachel Talalay to do such a fantastic job with her direction here and rather unsurprisingly that's exactly what she does. Also from a technical perspective, the film looks visually pleasing and lovely to look even though I will politely concede that obviously some of the CGI doesn't really hold up as well today and actually kind of looks a bit hokey and clunky but then again of course this wasn't going to be anywhere near as impressive as Lord of the Rings or Narnia especially due to the nature of this being a more low-budget television production.

Now for all the praise I'm giving this film, it's not entirely a perfect adaptation in my opinion. In other words, there are only just maybe 3 issues I have with the film that hold it back from being a masterpiece for me:

The first issue is with the pacing, particularly during the extended winter scenes with Mole and Ratty as they help celebrate Christmas with some young mice. While on the one hand I superficially understand the message and the purpose of their inclusion (especially since this movie aired as part of the Christmas schedules at the time after all), on the other hand, they end up grinding the pacing to a halt for a bit and that's kind of a shame especially for a story that's supposed to be as fast-paced and energetic as its amphibian central character

The second issue I have is with the incidental score which sounds kind of off at times and doesn't always exactly gel as well with the more whimsical, light-hearted, childlike and playful tone of the story.

But by far, the third, final and frankly biggest issue I have with this adaptation is with the rather underwhelming underutilisation of the Weasels. Here's what I mean by this: Firstly, in this version, unlike previous versions of this story, we're never actually shown how and/or why the Weasels manage to take over Toad Hall and instead towards the end, we're somehow only told that it happened. I'm really not the biggest fan of this change from the source material a) because it doesn't really make sense and b) because it consequently makes the mistake of diminishing the true serious threat and menace towards our main four protagonists that the Weasels are supposed to pose which incidentally was surprisingly what the '96 version, for all its obvious faults, managed to handle really well and even what the 1949 Disney short handled so excellently not just with the addition of Mr Winkie as the human substitute for the Chief Weasel but with the clever and rather ingenious twist as well that the Weasels were the ones who stole the motorcar, duped Toad into signing Toad Hall over to them via the deed papers in the tavern and effectively framed him on the spot for the crime. It's almost as if Lee Hall completely forgot to develop the Weasels as proper characters and focused way too much on developing the other characters (particularly Toad that the Weasels end up being treated in this version as more like an afterthought than a plot device within the story Secondly, it doesn't help that their costumes and makeup looks kind of ridiculous. If anything, they look more like demented medieval Cirque du Soleil performers than an actual threat. Thirdly, as a result, the climactic Toad Hall battle in this version kind of feels underwhelming, devoid of any actual stakes, suspense or tension, anticlimactic and rather rushed.

In conclusion, even despite its imperfections holding it back from being a masterpiece, The Wind in the Willows (2006) still remains in my opinion to be a real damn fun and watchable adaptation of this classic story nearly 20 years later. It effortlessly takes advantage of its televisual limitations and manages to retain a majority of the spirit, the essence, the charm, the humour and above all the core message of the book. Matt Lucas and especially Bob Hoskins absolutely kill it in the acting department with their respective individual performances as Toad and Badger and are by far the biggest reason why this adaptation works more than it otherwise had any right to. Easily are what makes this adaptation work more than it otherwise had any right to If you're someone who fondly remembers reading the book during your childhood as much as I do and/or thus want to see a more faithful and book-accurate adaptation of this story, even despite a few reservations, I'd still very much highly recommend that you give this version a watch.

My overall rating for The Wind in the Willows (2006): 7.5/10.