The Illusionist ****

A lovely, unhurried, witty and warm animation drawn with the style and hand technique of the old school, "The Illusionist" presents a gentle parable about growing up and putting away childish things. Clearly a labor of love, director/writer/composer Sylvain Chomet has produced a beautiful tribute to famed French comic Jacques Tati, who wrote the original screenplay as a love letter to his daughter. The story, told in images with indistinct vocalizations standing in for dialogue, follows an illusionist down on his luck, who travels from France to Scotland, where a young girl, enamored of his magic, adopts him. Their life and small adventures in Edinburgh make up most of the movie, as he struggles to live up to her fantasy, and she matures into a young woman. Bittersweet yet satisfying, "The illusionist" is a welcome respite from the surfeit of slick computer-generated superheroes we've had of late.

Rated PG. 80 minutes. Sylvain Chomet - Director / Writer (adaptation) / Composer, Jacques Tati - Writer (original screenplay), Sally Chomet - Producer, Bob Last - Producer. Priduced by Pathe. Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Sony Pictures Classics.

Principal voices: Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin, Duncan MacNeil.

Academy Award nominee for best animated feature of 2010.