Alice chases rabbit again on NBC

In attempting to bring Lewis Carroll's "Alice and Wonderland" to life with a live action miniseries, NBC's resulting product is a mirage of special effects, big name actors and a large, white rabbit on steroids. The spectacular eye candy provides for an entertaining miniseries, however, "Alice" tends to drag through three long hours.

"Alice" focuses on a young girl named Alice, played by "Waterworld" kiddie Tina Majorino. Alice must sing in front of her parent's friends at a party, and the little girl can only imagine screwing up. Running away from the party towards the forest, Alice sees the white rabbit, and upon following him, her adventure in Wonderland begins.

Her first glimpse of Wonderland is falling down the rabbit hole, looking very much like Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," except in NBC's version, the character's are real instead of cartoons. She continues through Wonderland meeting interesting characters and consuming various potions to increase or decrease her size. Most of the characters are part of an all-star cast, however some are creations of The Jim Henson Creature Shop. The actors seem comfortable in their roles, especially the odd Martin Short who was made for the role of the Mad Hatter. British actress Miranda Richardson plays the Queen of Hearts, and Whoopie Goldberg stars as the Cheshire Cat. In other roles, Robbie Cotrane and George Wendt can be seen as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Ben Kingsley as Major Caterpillar, Christopher Lloyd as the White Knight and Gene Wilder as the Mock Turtle.

Even with such a grand cast, "Alice" occasionally seems as though grown-ups are singing and dancing around, trying too hard to entertain. Also, the movie drags after an hour due to the long monologues of several characters and their repetitive antics. Martin Short sings the same song at least five times throughout the movie while the white rabbit falls in the same spot five times just so nothing is missed.

The miniseries is clever at times, though. Watch for mirrors, because sometimes the image isn't the same as the action on the other side of the mirror. Routes taken in Wonderland appear to be circular, and the characters pop up in unexpected places.

As Tina is delightful as Alice, the special effects make the miniseries with the utterly interesting sight of Whoopie Goldberg's head planted on the body of a feline. The very intricate and creative costumes compliment the impressive effects. Is a possible Golden Globe nomination for costume design on the horizon for this miniseries?

"Alice" proves to be an entertaining glimpse of Wonderland that can get a smile out of even the grumpiest of people. If you need more inspiration to see this movie, remember that Carroll was on an opium trip when he wrote the book. With its clever antics, all-star cast and extraordinary special effects, this trip through the looking glass is well worth it.

02-26-99