CS Daily Archive > DVD of the Day > 11-24-03

This Story Goes Nowhere

by Peter Clines

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

David Titcher and David Benullo & David Goldstein
Based on the novel by Jules Verne

The century-old epic journey of Phineas Fogg (Steve Coogan) is reduced to a mere frame story in this film. It turns out his valet, Passepartout (Jackie Chan), is really a Chinese folk hero, in England to recover a stolen relic. What there is of Fogg's tale is fun and true to the Jules Verne spirit, (and that of the 1956 David Niven-topped extravaganza), but it's less than half the film. Likewise, the legend and action of the Ten Tigers (the team of martial artists to which Passepartout belongs) is barely scratched in the loose hour or so allotted to it. Two good tales are forced into one script, both are cheated of their full potential, and the film suffers for it.

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
Buena Vista Home Video
Rated PG; 120 min.


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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

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