I'm still confused by this Matilda detail 28 years after the movie premiered

While I still think 1996s Matilda Easily among the best of all the Roald Dahl adaptations, there remains a strange quirk about the movie's history that I don't quite understand after almost 30 years. The Matilda The cast, led by Mara Wilson as the title character, did an incredible job of bringing the book to life. However, one interesting and unsolved mystery about the adaptation still has me scratching my head to this day. It's not a plot hole, exactly, but it does raise a very specific question about a main character.

The changes to the US Matilda Book allows the movie to be its own entity while remaining somewhat faithful to the source material. Directed by, produced by and starring Danny DeVito, there is no doubt who was in charge of the adaptation process. That being said, I think DeVito probably went a little overboard with his involvementAnd it manifests itself in a peculiar way, which is almost distracting.

Danny DeVito playing Matilda's dad and narrating the movie is super confusing

DeVito's dual casting in Matilda creates a problem

DeVito's onscreen role in the movie is as the hot patriarch of Matilda's family, Harry Wormwood. Cruel and short-tempered, DeVito's performance as Harry demonstrates an example of perfect casting, in my opinion. Interestingly, DeVito is also installed as the narrator of the movie, providing commentary and guiding the viewers' perceptions throughout. What I find strange about this is the fact that It creates the illusion of Harry Wormwood serving as the narrator of the storyBut this is neither confirmed nor denied at any point.

I was very young when I first watched the movie, so I simply noticed that the narrator was Harry Wormwood due to their shared voice. As I got older, I realized that this made less and less sense. The narrator talks about Harry in the third person and seems generally uncomplimentary about the nature and personality of Matilda's father. Today, I'm almost certain that the narrator and Harry are completely independent of each other as characters, but it took me an annoyingly long time to reconcile that due to DeVito's dual casting.

Danny DeVito's voice is also recognizable (despite his attempts to mask it)

It's still easy to tell that Harry and the narrator share an actor

I'm sure I'm not the only one who can immediately recognize Danny DeVito's iconic voice. So, despite the actor offering very different performances as Harry Wormwood and the movie's narrator, it's still incredibly easy to tell that DeVito gives Matildas voiceover. Harry is certainly more courageous and confrontational than the narratorBut DeVito's attempt to adopt a different attitude while telling the story just isn't enough for me not to notice that it's the same actor. His delivery as the narrator is much softer, but it's still recognizable as DeVito's voice.

While I remain firm in my opinion of Matilda How almost wrongI think it could have come even closer to perfection if DeVito had decided on a single character to play rather than taking on two seemingly unrelated personas in the same movie. His involvement in the production was already incredibly notable behind the camera, and he even recruited his then-wife, Rhea Perlman, to play Matilda's mother. If DeVito had stepped away from one of his two roles, there would still be no denying who was pulling the strings.

Danny DeVito was better as Harry Wormwood than he was as Matilda's narrator

Matilda would have been better off replacing DeVito's narrator with a new actor

If DeVito had left every role, I would have much preferred it to be the narrator. There is no denying that he did a formidable job of telling the story, but he would have been more effective in this role if he had not also played Matilda's father. The narrative dissonance it creates is just not worth it. on the other hand, I can't imagine any actor other than Danny DeVito playing Harry. Not only can he use all of his acting skills outside of just his voice, but he can also pull off his role as one of the movie's villains.

As the narrator, it is also a matter that he has a responsibility to remain a little more neutral. Sure, he silently sympathizes with Matilda's plight throughout the movie, but that only makes it even more confusing when Harry treats his daughter so poorly without any idea of ​​her feelings or how it might affect her development. DeVito being so heavily in charge of the movie didn't hurt the end product at all, but if he had cast someone other than the narrator, I think I would have loved Matilda Just that little bit more.