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(Guess why the bus didnt show up today?
Because the bus is a caterpillar, and it grew up.)
Refreshingly, however, the film version ofMarcelthe ShellWith Shoes Onmanages to tiptoe around these pitfalls.
It makes its own insignificance a virtue, then uses that to slip us into an unexpectedly moving story.
One of those drawers included Marcels family and his whole shell community.
He nestles inside a tennis ball to get around the house.
He keeps a piece of lint on a leash as a pet.
He sleeps on a slice of bread.
He steps in a sticky puddle of honey whenever he wants to walk on the wall or the window.
(He may be a shell, but hes not a snail.)
He and grandma settle in once a week to watch60 Minutes, especially any segment featuring Lesley Stahl.
(We just call it the show.
Thats how much we like it, Marcel declares.)
But Marcel worries about his grandmother, who shows signs of dementia.
Slowly but surely, the film goes from being about Marcel to being about the rest of us.
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