Les Triplettes de Belleville (****)

I just watched the most odd, surrealistic, original, creative, amazing film. The animated film The Triplets of Belleville is visually mesmerizing, very funny, oddly captivating. Do not watch this film and expect to ask questions. The idea behind this film is not to ask why, but to just go with it and take it all in. It involves caricatured characters and caricatured locations, beautiful animation with some cel shaded computer animated models thrown in. Think of recent movies like Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Iron Giant. The main character is an elderly woman who trains her grandson to compete in the Tour de France. He is kidnapped, along with other cyclists and taken to another place, to be used in Mafia gambling games. She and her dog trek far and wide to get him back with the aid of the Triplets of Belleville, a performance group who's heyday was back in the thirties. This dreamy ride is spectacular and most likely the most original film you'll ever see. Very Highly Recommended.