The Triplets of Belleville (****)
review by Jon Waterman

When a young boy can't seem to find happiness in life, his mother tries everything she can. Neither a train set nor a puppy can cheer the little guy up. They both find happiness in the form of a bicycle. As the years go on, the young boy grows to be a professional cyclist with his mother as the coach. During the Tour de France, however, he's kidnapped. Now his mom must find some way to get him back.

For those unfamiliar with the film, I should mention that it is animated. Also, it's a French film with no translation (at least not when I saw it). However, no translation is needed, because there's minimal dialogue and the characters communicate through body language and small noises.

The animation looks great. For the most part, it's all traditional two-dimensional (meaning without the use of computers) stuff. For some of the more complex aspects, though, computers were used such as swooping camera movements and some of the scenery. Although computers composed some of the elements, the drawings were all based on the same style as the characters. It's becoming increasingly rare to see a feature length 2-D project, let alone one that shows as much care for detail and works as well as "Triplets" does.

Writer/Director Sylvain Chomet created a wonderful film. With such little dialogue, much depends on the strength of the characters to hold your attention. I was interested from the start. Each person, no matter how small the role, has some unique quirk to look for. Some may prefer the mousy mechanic, or the mother with her persuasive whistle. In my opinion, the dog steals the show. He's not portrayed as anything unusal. He reacts just as a dog would in most situation. He runs around in circles, he begs for food and he barks at trains...a lot.

Aiding the ecclectic characters is a story that keeps you glued to your seat. It's not that the mystery of the kidnapping is necessarily award worthy, but you never know where it's going to go. Chomet seemingly sacrifices structure for humor at times, however, all the loose ends are tied and the randomness is forced to make sense. By the end, you'll be surprised it doesn't keep going and you'll wish it did.

Most likely, "The Triplets of Belleville" won't be playing in your town. I can only hope that it hits video shelves at some point so that everyone has an opportunity to see this great animated movie. In the land of Pixar and Dreamworks Animations, Triplets is at least three times better.

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