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BY PETER KEOUGH
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When Nick Park stretches his claymation to feature-film length, it gets a little thin. Such was the case with Chicken Run, and it’s more evident with Wallace & Gromit. In small doses, the two evoke silent comedy shorts: Gromit with his mouthless but expressive face is like a clay-canine Keaton; Wallace’s (voiced by Peter Sallis) Rube Goldberg–style inventions are like the workings of a silent gag. At 85 minutes, though, it’s the plot that’s a Rube Goldberg device. Here the pair have set up a pest-control system to humanely rid their neighbors’ gardens of voracious rabbits. Highest on Wallace’s list of clients is comely Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter), who is also being courted by Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes), a cad whose attitude toward bunnies is akin to Elmer Fudd’s. Then there’s Wallace’s Mind-o-Matic machine and the Giant Vegetable Completion. It makes you long for the pleasures of a good visual pun and a nice piece of cheese.
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