Madeline

The director of Party Girl and Woo brings to the screen a considerably more captivating heroine: perky, plucky Madeline (Hatty Jones), the orphaned schoolgirl who lives "in an old house in Paris all covered with vines." Oscar-winner Frances McDormand, a long way from Fargo, stars as Miss Clavel, who can always sense when "something is not right" with her girls. This film is a patchwork of four stories from Ludwig Bemelman's beloved books, including Madeline's bout of appendicitis, her plunge into the Seine, and her conspiratorial pranks to foil the dreaded "Lord Cucuface's" (Nigel Hawthorne) attempts to sell the school. "Not right" is a kidnapping subplot that departs from Bemelman's text, but on the whole, this is recommended. (K. Lee Benson)