The House with a Clock in Its Walls
2018
**½
Director: Eli Roth
Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic, Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Lorenzo Izzo, Vanessa Anne Williams
In 1955, 10-year-old Lewis loses his parents in a car crash. He goes to live with his magically inclined uncle whose spooky house hides something sinister. This likeable but lukewarm fantasy movie is based on the 1973 novel by John Bellairs. It has a nice story with a good cast, but (when Lewis learns to cast complicated spells in a matter of minutes) it fails to produce a proper sense of magic and wonder.
