Review: The House with a Clock in Its Walls

There's an intriguing story that The House with a Clock in Its Walls wishes to tell, one that's to do with the way we desperately grasp at often dangerous straws in order to deal with grief. Yet it's buried beneath frippery that doesn't even become fantastical until the film's final half hour.

Based on the 1973 novel written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, the film begins in 1955 as newly orphaned ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) heads to the fictional town of New Zebedee, Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan (Jack Black). For the dry drip that is Lewis, his kimono-wearing uncle and his new home - a Victorian house filled to the brim with all manner of seemingly alive knickknacks, including dozens of ticking clocks - are quite a lot to take in. There are no rules in this house, Jonathan breezily informs him, "Things are quite different here."

Indeed, Lewis feels unmoored with visions of his mother stocking his fear and loneliness. Further, he's unsettled not only by trying to fit in at his new school but also by the the mysterious ticking sound that emanates from within the walls of Jonathan's house during the night and discovering his uncle lurking about with an axe. This is at least offset by the reveal that Jonathan is, in fact, a warlock and that he can teach Lewis how to have magic powers. There are other comforts to be had, one in the form of Tarby (Sunny Suljic), a cool kid who takes a shine to Lewis but whose friendship proves difficult to maintain, resulting in Lewis attempting to impress Tarby by unleashing an evil spirit bent on bringing about the end of the world.

Then there is Florence Zimmerman, played by the indomitable Cate Blanchett, who is Jonathan's best friend and neighbour. Truly, the main delight of this film is watching Black and Blanchett make like Tracy and Hepburn, trading quips and barbed but affection banter. Like Lewis, both Jonathan and Florence are also dealing with grief, the latter having lost her husband and child during the war and, based on the briefly glimpsed numerical tattoo on her arm, experienced more horrors thereafter. She provides Lewis with the maternal love he craves as well as the encouragement to embrace exactly who he is. "What's wrong with weird?" she says. "Weird is like the nuts in my cookies. It's the nuts that make things interesting."

If only this were true for most of the film, which feels formulaic and not quite committed to being the throwback to early Amblin classics like Back to the Future. It's a half-hearted homage at best, perhaps somewhat due to Hostel director Eli Roth having to work within the confines of a PG rating. The blame isn't entirely on Roth as the narrative walks in place for the majority without necessarily fleshing out the characters or the relationships between characters. The film finally reaches its stride in its final third as the central trio combine to ward off the end of the world, battling possessed jack-o'-lanterns and creepy dolls, and at last resembling something near wondrous and inventive.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Directed by: Eli Roth

Written by: Eric Kripke; based on the novel by John Bellairs

Starring: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Colleen Camp, Sunny Suljic