Glasses

Poor Milo. He sees the world a little differently than his first grade classmates--both figuratively and literally. Constantly losing his lunch box, flubbing up in playground recess games, unable to see the flash cards the teacher holds up in class, Milo is the butt of jokes and victim of bullies, until…a visit to the eye doctor brings his life back into focus. Brian Duchscherer's beautiful, puppet-animated Glasses nicely captures the occasionally hellish ambience of grade school ("last one to school is a dogbrain!"), while tenderly exploring the nature of friendship. Helped along in his quasi-blindness by a young girl named Gwenny, Milo's eventual 20/20 vision in class and on the playground (thanks to his glasses) does not, unfortunately, translate to his interpersonal communications, where he remains somewhat shortsighted, until an unpleasant experience teaches him an important lesson. Sporting a solid, if somewhat pedestrian, narrative line, Glasses' real strength lies in its gorgeous top-notch animation, characteristic of National Film Board of Canada shorts. Recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)