"Babe" is a charming, subtle sleeper that's filled with suspense, humor, and genuinely touching drama...in other words, it has all the elements mainstream movies seldom deliver. The fact that the movie's central characters are barnyard animals makes it even more of a fascinating achievement. Examples:
An early scene in which Babe, the orphaned piglet on Hoggett's farm, cries "I want my mom" is more emotionally effective than all of the sappy melodrama squeezed into three hours of "Titanic."
The scene in which Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell), despondent over a sick Babe, does an Irish jig to cheer the porker up, is funnier than anything I saw in "There's Something About Mary."
And finally, the climactic sequence, in which Babe participates in a sheep-herding competition (reserved for dogs), is more suspenseful and exciting than anything you'll find within "The Matrix."
And everything in between these moments is sensational, as well.
7/10
An early scene in which Babe, the orphaned piglet on Hoggett's farm, cries "I want my mom" is more emotionally effective than all of the sappy melodrama squeezed into three hours of "Titanic."
The scene in which Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell), despondent over a sick Babe, does an Irish jig to cheer the porker up, is funnier than anything I saw in "There's Something About Mary."
And finally, the climactic sequence, in which Babe participates in a sheep-herding competition (reserved for dogs), is more suspenseful and exciting than anything you'll find within "The Matrix."
And everything in between these moments is sensational, as well.
7/10