[6]

A provocative film about the real Alice in Wonderland, who at 80 years of age begins recollecting her memories of author Lewis Carroll. Through flashbacks with Carroll (played superbly by Ian Holm) and in twisted fantasy sequences featuring creations from the Jim Henson Creature Shop, Alice slowly comes to terms with something she never realized before — that Carroll loved her. And I don’t mean the way a father loves a daughter. The film explores the romantic obsession Carroll harbored for the little girl, which is apparently documented in some of the author’s letters to family members. The subject is treated with subtlety and taste, but the movie has a hard time shaking its persistently sleepy atmosphere and languid pacing. With Peter Gallagher.

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop supplies the denizens of Wonderland.