Leap!

Dinner and a Movie

By Steve Herte

Leap! (The Weinstein Company, 2017) – Directors: Eric Summer & Eric Wann. Writers: Carol Noble (s/p), Laurent Zeitoun (s/p and story), Eric Summer (s/p, story & original idea). Stars: Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Maddie Ziegler, Terrence Scammell, Tamir Kapelian, Julie Khaner, Joe Sheridan, Elana Dunkelman, Shoshana Sperling, Jamie Watson, Bronwen Mantel, Ricardo El Mandril Sanchez, Nat Wolff & Kate McKinnon. Color, Animated, Rated PG, 89 minutes.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “It lost something in the translation.” This is what I suspect happened to this film. It must have been much funnier in French.

This feature takes place in the 1880s. Felicie Milliner (Fanning) and Victor (Wolff) are orphans who grew up together and vowed to stay together, even in their attempts to escape the orphanage. Felicie, as her name suggests, is happy and lively and dreams of being a great ballerina. Victor must have been greatly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci because he’s trying to perfect a set of artificial wings to enable him to fly.

Though Mother Superior (McKinnon) pooh-pooh’s Felicie’s dream as just that, Felicie is undeterred. Early one morning, Victor hatches an escape plan, “This plan is so ‘A’, there’s no plan B.” He dresses up as Mother Superior (using live chickens for breasts) and escorts Felicie past fearsome Custodian Luteau’s (Brooks) room. The disguise only fools Luteau until the chickens squawk, and the chase is on. Running along the ridge of the orphanage roof he soars off with Felicie on his latest invention, “Chicken Wings.” “But chickens can’t fly,” Felicie advises just before take-off. It looks like it’s going to work until they crash into an oxcart and Felicie drops the music box her mother gave her (it has a pop-up ballerina). Luteau is now chasing them on his motorcycle. The chase ends up at the railroad tracks where both children catch the freight train to Paris.

In Paris, Victor shows Felicie a postcard photo of the Academie de Ballet, and in her enthusiasm to see it Felicie tears it in half. Meanwhile, the Parisian pigeons are attacking Victor and he falls of the bridge onto a passing boat. Alone, Felicie wanders the streets of Paris until she stumbles upon the Academie, which is open because there is a performance on stage. She witnesses a prima ballerina executing a Grand Jeté (a long horizontal leap – hence the title of the movie) and she knows she’s where she wants to be. But a guard (Watson) tries to take her to the police for trespassing and possibly stealing. She’s rescued by a cryptic, disabled cleaning woman named Odette (Jepsen). Felicie’s persistence gains her access to Odette’s servants’ cottage, provided she assists her in the cleaning.

By now the audience is suspicious of Odette because her name is the same as the White Swan character in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and we’ve already heard two excerpts from that ballet. Odette cleans house for the haughty and hateful Madame Régine Le Haut (also McKinnon) and her stuck-up ballerina wanna-be daughter, Camille Le Haut (Ziegler). One day, Felicie walks in on Camille while she’s practicing her ballet. Camille insults Felicie, telling her that she’s a nobody and will never be a ballerina. Then she throws the music box out the window, breaking it.

Felicie is upset, but not discouraged. The next day she intercepts the postman and uses Camille’s invitation to try out for the part of Clara in The Nutcracker as if it were her own. The first day is almost a disaster with ballet Choreographer Mérante (Scammell), but Odette intercedes once more and offers to train her.

The next day on the same bridge, Felicie is practicing positions while Victor tries to get her attention. When he finally does, he repairs the music box and takes her to his job site, the workshop of Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. The tremendous head of the Statue of Liberty is just beyond the gate and a tall scaffolding surrounds the incomplete body behind it.

Back at the Academie, Felicie meets Rudolph (Kapelian), a handsome, blonde Russian dancer. She is immediately attracted to him and it seems the reverse is true. She’s floating the next time she meets Victor, and so is he. He’s invented the wing-suit so many daredevils are using today to jump off mountains and soar at ridiculous speeds. But a wind picks up and sends him into a lamppost before entangling him in the rear of a horse and carriage.

Felicie’s ruse is uncovered the next day as she confronts Mme. Le Haut and her angry daughter with Mérante and admits to the lie. Mérante has by now been impressed with Felicie’s progress and enthusiasm and allows both girls to stay and compete for the role. The loser must agree to never come back. Previous to this encounter, Mérante witnessed a powerful and exciting performance by Felicie at a pub Victor took her to, where she half-ballet, half-clog danced to the Shannon Reel.

The build to the climax of this movie sees an awkward meeting between Rudolph and Victor on the Eiffel Tower, a chase scene up the Statue of Liberty, and a ballet dance-off between Felicie and Camille. The chase scene is problematic in its believability. Seriously, would you chase a young girl onto the crown of the Statue of Liberty (the statue was nearly completed by the end of the movie) wearing a full-length green velvet gown and heels? Mme. Le Haut does.

The beauty and only reality in this animated feature is the dancing itself. The key frame animation of two actual stars of the Paris Opera Ballet, Aurélie Dupont and Jérémie Bélingard kept the film from falling into the river of disbelief. That and the spectacular musical soundtrack. The character depictions and the animation were superb, and the voice matching excellent. I didn’t even recognize Mel Brooks’ voice.

Leap! is an entertaining film for both young and old (some did applaud at the end) and is good clean fun. The story flowed for an hour and twenty-nine minutes without dead space. Forget the anachronisms and remember the wisdom of a little black, ring-necked duck, and enjoy it. Or maybe get a hold of the original version.

Rating: 2 out of 5 Martini glasses.

The Skylark

200 West 39^th Street (30^th Floor), New York

www.theskylarknyc.com

Before 2014 there were only “rooftop” restaurants in Manhattan. Now they’re popping up everywhere for diners who enjoy al fresco meals. The Skylark gives the diner the choice of being enclosed (my preference) or exposed.

Keri, my server, sat me at a high table with a cushioned, high-backed stool against a wall of black brick. The atmosphere is more lounge-like than restaurant. Once I angled my chair to a comfortable view of Manhattan north of 39^th Street I found I could see all the way up the 59^th and, if I turned my head, I could see well into New Jersey across the Hudson. I could even see the Waterford crystal ball used for New Year’s in Times Square.

Having dined at Tapas-style restaurants I understood the “Dinner by the Bite” menu at Skylark. The signature cocktail list was intriguing and I decided upon the ultimate signature cocktail, the Skylark Cocktail – Beefeater gin, Ketel One vodka, St. Germain liqueur and Blue Curacao, with fresh lemon and garnished with a brandied cherry. It was a pleasing shade of turquoise with a fresh, herbal, elder flavor accented by citrus and juniper. I loved it.

I decided to choose a wine first and choreograph my dinner from there. The wines were all reasonably priced. I chose the 2015 Bourbon Barrel Aged Zinfandel “1,000 Stories” from Mendocino/Sonoma, California. The wine had a strong fruit nose and a lovely garnet color, a bold, full-bodied flavor reminiscent of good bourbon with a peppery aftertaste. I told Keri I wanted to start with a decadent dish.

First came the “Mac and Cheese Cupcakes,” with smoked tomato chutney and frizzled kale. These four little pasta orbs were each bite-sized and were delicious. Think lasagna after it had a chance to cool down and gel, then re-heat it quickly.

The second dish more than made up for what I might have expected from the first. “General Tsao’s (sic) Cauliflower,” in a sweet mirin (a kind of Japanese rice wine) and ginger chili sauce, was garnished with green sesame seeds. It was spicy, it was sweet, it was savory. I couldn’t believe it was just cauliflower. Truly amazing.

Keeping it in the Chinese vein, my next dish was “Peking Duck Won Tons,” with sesame hoisin sauce, garnished with shredded radish and scallions. Again, four bite-sized fried delights tasting of duck meat and sweet hoisin sauce but made piquant with the garnishes.

I then ordered what I called my main course, “Skylark Beef Sliders” with onion jam, gruyere cheese and arugula. Three juicy burgers liberally coated with gruyere were served in mini burger boxes (a nice touch). A toothpick held them together as well as skewer a piece of pickle to the upper bun. I was not getting to feel full and these tasted like I could have more, but I ordered the “Herbed Sea Salt Dusted Fries” with house ketchup and truffle aioli as a side dish. This was the largest portion I saw at the tables around me. The fries were delightfully crisp and salty and the dips made them wonderful. They filled the empty spaces the other dishes didn’t.

As always, I leave room for dessert. There were only two listed on the menu and the first one was undeniable. “PB & J S’Mores Pops” with torched strawberry meringue were the right capper after the varied meal I just finished. For those who hate abbreviations, it was peanut butter and jelly, chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows (the elements of S’Mores) all molded into balls on lollipop sticks planted in a ceramic arch. All the elements blended together to make me want more but too full to dare do so.

The Skylark doesn’t serve coffee or tea in any form, so be warned. I went straight to the after-dinner drink, a nice glass of Laphroaig single-malt Scotch whisky. I could feel everything starting to settle down for digestion as I watched the lights of Manhattan come up and the New Year’s Ball change colors and patterns. It was almost mesmerizing.

As I said before, The Skylark is a great place to make a romantic impression. Another short flight of stairs up and you’re on the roof with only a sheet of Plexiglas between you and all those skyscrapers eating up the night. I almost didn’t leave. 

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