Updated: 21 June 1997

BABE

1/2

Now HERE is a movie that knows exactly what it is. It is delightful.

I may rate this higher one day, who knows? I saw this movie under perfect circumstances. On a trip with good friends, a warm evening in L.A. on vacation from a cold November hinterland. A big, relaxed audience. We knew it had a talking pig. We were smart enough to not confuse it with GORDY. We went expecting a cute movie that had received good reviews. We got a heck of a lot more.

We got the most original Greek Chorus in film history, introducing each "chapter" and inducing hysterical fits of laughter throughout the theater, especially when they were "revealed."

We got an idyllic farm in a setting that, to this day, I think the director created with a magic brush the same way Simon used his chalk to make a world.

We got two canine adoptive parents, exquisitely framing a powerful conflict between them.

We got the essence of cat--all hiss and claw and equivocal manipulation.

We got a farm couple BOTH deserving of nominations--simply for not being overshadowed by their livestock.

We got a terrific duck that has inherited his timing from Donald O'Connor in "Make 'em Laugh."

And finally, we got a pig. A pig with not only a voice, but with a heart, the best kind of unselfish determination, and a simple--therefore great--message.

I could go on and dissect the structure, the scenes, the shooting, the pig (!). But that would detract from the magic of a fable that, unlike CITIZEN KANE, doesn't beg for analysis. It exists for the warmth of feeling that comes with the final moments, while the strains of "If I Could Find the Words to Make A Day For You" swell in the background.

Oh, by the way, I recommend this film.