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A14 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 28 June 2022
A big heart and one googly eye in 'Marcel the Shell'

By JAKE COYLE AP Film heartache and self-doubt,
Writer a childlike appreciation for
It's boom times for googly the littlest things in life.
eyes. Melancholy surrounds the
Within months of "Every- film. It takes place almost
thing Everywhere All at entirely within and around
Once," the metaphysical the house, giving it a home-
sci-fi comedy whose pano- body's loneliness. Some-
ply of metaverses memo- thing uncertain has hap-
rably included one that pened that has uprooted
made magic out of a pair Marcel's larger community,
of stones and some plastic leaving only him and Con-
eyeballs, arrives "Marcel nie, whose health is slip-
the Shell With Shoes On." ping. Dean, too, is nursing
Marcel is an inch-tale sea- heartbreak. We don't learn
shell with a single googly much about his life, or even
eye, a pair of Polly Pocket often see him, but we know
shoes and a very big heart. he's just gone through a
He introduces himself as a divorce. (Slate and Camp
shell, "but I also have shoes were themselves divorced
and a face." in 2016. Their handmade
"I like that about myself," movie is, in part, the tender
says Marcel. This image released by A24 shows a scene from "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On," releasing June product of a relationship
"Marcel the Shell With 24. that receded.)
Shoes On," which opens Associated Press "Marcel the Shell" may
Friday in theaters, is a fea- verge, or even tip, into
ture-length, stop-motion ting around as a little guy, grandmother, Connie (Isa- erences and tastes are part cloying territory — such is
animation film based on and only occasional trepi- bella Rossellini, an all-time of his charm. He and Con- the ever-present danger
the YouTube shorts made dation. The sight of the great bit of voice casting). nie, for example, are huge of googly eyes. But it may
by Jenny Slate, who voices housecleaner — "the har- They have passed unno- fans of Lesley Stahl on "60 be the only movie that can
Marcel with a snuggly high binger of the vacuum" — is ticed until a documentary Minutes," and watch regu- pull off a line like, "Guess
pitch, and director Dean one example of concern. filmmaker, Dean (Camp) larly. why I smile a lot? Uh, cause
Fleischer Camp. It's a leap But mostly Marcel does just moves in and begins filming "She blows cases wide it's worth it." There's some-
in scale that Marcel, who fine. He uses a mixer tied Marcel. And, like an imagi- open," explains Marcel. Af- thing unexpectedly tough
sleeps on a slice of bread to a branch to shake fruit native child, Marcel likes ter Dean posts clips of Mar- about Marcel, a resilient
and plays "Taps" through a from a tree outside the win- the attention, constantly cel on YouTube that gar- soul who faces the ups and
macaroni, would probably dow. When he wants to get showing Dean little tricks ner millions of views, fame downs of life with pluck and
appreciate, himself. around quicker, he uses his of being small and eagerly comes a little uncomfort- playfulness. "Marcel the
The experience of being "rover," a tennis ball with a sharing a steady stream of ably for Marcel. TikTokers Shell With Shoes On" could
small, and knee-weaken- hole to climb into. non-sequitur thoughts and turn up outside the house. be considered a kids movie
ingly cute, is much at the In the film, which takes the motivational slogans. One Even Stahl comes calling. or an art-house indie (A24
heart of "Marcel the Shell," same sunny spirit and loose comes from the athlete How much sensation a is releasing). But its proper
very possibly the sweetest mockumentary style of the Marcel calls "Whale Jetski": shell can handle is part audience might be any-
movie ever made about a shorts, Marcel lives largely "You miss 100% of the shots of the story of "Marcel the one who's ever felt sanded
mollusk. To Marcel, there's out of sight in a California you don't take." Shell." But it's more about down by life, and could use
great joy and pride in get- home with his gardening Marcel's unpredictable ref- preserving, in the face of a roll in Marcel's rover.q
Review: A hunting trip turns deadly when a blizzard strikes

for Daniel, Armann, Gunn- As "Outside" — Ragnar can see only a few feet in And the armed stranger just
laugur, and Helena, who Jonasson's ninth thriller front of them. With his skills stares in silence — for hours
were tight in college and translated from Islandic to as a guide, he leads them — as the blizzard rages.
like to get together every English — opens, they gath- to a derelict hunting cabin, The author alternates points
year or so to drink heavily er expecting to party in the but once inside, they dis- of view, each of the four
and catch up. capital city of Reykjavik. cover they are not alone. friends taking turns as their
They all have issues. Daniel However, Armann, the ac- A man with a shotgun sits backstories are revealed
has been lying about how knowledged leader of the in a corner, a gun cradled and as they gradually dis-
poorly his acting career group, makes a last min- in his arms. No matter how cover that maybe they
is going. Armann, owner ute change of plans. They hard they try, can't get him aren't such great friends af-
of a multi-million-dollar will go ptarmigan hunting to speak a single word. ter all.
travel-guide business, is a on the desolate moors of As the hours crawl by, the Jonasson and translator
recovering drug addict. Iceland, even though most author gradually builds the Victoria Cribb do a fine job
Gunnlaugur, an alcoholic of them have scant experi- tension. The occupants of setting the scene, de-
lawyer who once got away ence with guns. of the claustrophobic veloping the characters,
This cover image released by
Minotaur shows "Outside" by with rape, is obsessed with Armann checks the weath- cabin have nothing but and keeping readers in sus-
Ragnar Jonasson. Helena. And she, an engi- er report before they set their clothes to keep them pense with a tight, clean,
Associated Press neer at a tech startup, is out, but as they trudge warm. Their cell phones noir prose style.
mourning the death of her across the moors, nary aren't working. Rescuers "Somebody," Helene says
By BRUCE DESILVA boyfriend and thinks his so- a bird in sight, a blizzard could never reach them prophetically, "is going to
Associated Press called accident was actu- screams out of the west, anyway until the storm sub- end up dead before this
It's reunion week in Iceland ally a murder. the snow so thick that they sides. trip is over."q