Where is Anne Frank

Directed by Ari Folman, Where is Anne Frank follows Kitty, Anne Frank’s imaginary friend, as she comes to life and embarks on an adventure within near-future Amsterdam – with the movie also chronicling the tragic title figure’s last few years. It’s an exceedingly oddball premise that is, at the outset, employed to relatively watchable effect by Folman, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, does a nice job of infusing the proceedings with an irresistibly stylish atmosphere and a small handful of admittedly engrossing sequences. The movie, which is at its best when focused on Frank’s inherently-compelling 1940s exploits, eventually progresses into a hit-and-miss midsection that’s generally more miss than hit, however, and it’s impossible, certainly, to muster up much interest in or enthusiasm for Kitty’s tedious, geared-towards-small-children exploits (ie it’s all just so silly and pointless, ultimately). And although Folman offers up a few poignant interludes in the movie’s second half, including an emotional trip to Frank’s grave, Where is Anne Frank has long-since cemented its place as a thoroughly misguided endeavor that just doesn’t, for the most part, work all that well.

** out of ****