One of the first films that made me fall in love with cinema was Steven Spielberg’s enduring “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” While I’m most certainly not alone in this, that it’s stuck with so many is just more of a testament to its greatness. With its ragtag group of scrappy, resourceful kids navigating the perils of growing up and the somehow equally relatable challenges of caring for a kindly otherworldly visitor that the government is after, it’s a film that soars every time you watch it.
There’s a good chance that Seth Worley, writer and director of the monster movie “Sketch,” was similarly impacted by Spielberg’s work. His rather fun feature debut offers its own compassionate and frequently clever romp that, while not as good as “E.T.” by any stretch of the imagination, has plenty of that same sense of charm hiding away. It’s not as perfect, taking a bit to get going and often finding itself a little lost in the woods, but it’s the exact type of film that you could see a new generation of kids finding and causing them to fall in love with movies.
That it stars Tony Hale, of hilarious shows like “Veep” and “Arrested Development,” might lead one to believe it’s going to be built around him, but he’s merely a small part of its success. While he’s both sharply funny and emotionally effective as a father trying to raise two kids after their mother has passed away, it’s the kids that prove to be the ones that win you over.
The film, which premiered Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, is initially seen through the eyes of troubled patriarch Taylor (Hale), who is struggling to raise his two kids, Jack (Kue Lawrence) and Amber (Bianca Belle), now that their mother has died. The latter of his children seems to have a hard time at school, drawing violent, scary monsters in her notebooks that result in a call to her father.
She then gets a brand new notebook that one kind teacher hopes will allow her to better express herself and talk with others about what she’s feeling. What she, or anyone, couldn’t possibly have predicted is that there is a magical pond in the woods near the family’s home that will bring her drawings to life when they’re accidentally dropped in. With creatures born from her imagination now trying to kill her, Amber has to team up with Jack to stop them from destroying their corner of the world as they confront grief.
This could easily become incredibly cloying if not done tactfully, and there are many clunky moments early on in the setting up of the emotional stakes that teeter perilously close to this. Thankfully, once all the monsters begin coming to life, “Sketch” mostly leaps off the page.
Much of this comes down to how great the child actors are and how authentic the monsters feel to a child’s imagination, though it also benefits from the way scenes are constructed. Worley has clearly done his homework in watching classic monster movies, but he’s more than just copying them. Instead, he puts his own charming spin on shots you’ve seen before, serving up plenty of more knowing gags that playfully undercut our expectations, just as he embraces cheesiness.
When it comes to visual effects, the monsters can look a little off when seen up close, but for the most part, they’re all rather well done when you remember they’re re-creations of a child’s drawings. That the emotional beats are a little more broadly sketched can start to wear on the film, but Hale is always terrific in winning you back over where the writing may lose you.
He is there for the adults watching with their kids, doing solid dramatic work as a father in mourning who has not yet come to terms with how to do so. He doesn’t ever slip into being a slapstick, goofy dad, instead perfectly delivering jokes grounded in his character. The word that will likely get attached to “Sketch” is “humanist,” but don’t worry, its sweetness never curdles into sourness as much as it just keeps moving along with an abundance of silliness to spare.
“Sketch” is scattered and more than a little superficial at times, with the lack of variety in locations becoming increasingly noticeable, though it’s got all the right stuff to make this work. You almost wish the conclusion was given more time to breathe after the action dies down, but it’s perhaps best it doesn’t overstay its welcome. “Sketch” might not take to the sky as Spielberg did with “E.T,” but this story still leaps to fun heights. Here’s hoping Worley draws up another film soon.
