Matilda

The comic fable Matilda‘s fortune stands on a singular misfortune: that all too many children will identify with a girl who suffers the cruel cowardice that often masquerades as ”discipline.” The eponymous heroine (Mara Wilson) of this tale by James and the Giant Peach author Roald Dahl, who knew a few things about cruelty, is belittled by her TV-swilling, know-nothing parents (director Danny DeVito and wife Rhea Perlman). When she arrives at a school run by a Teutonic harridan (Pam Ferris), her anger transforms into avenging powers, making this an ideal rental for the legions of kids looking for a film in which they triumph at last. B+