ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Here's a bedtime story that's guaranteed to put kids and grown-ups to sleep. Co-directors Piet De Rycker and Thilo Graf Rothkirch have managed to sap all the magic and mystery from Klaus Baumgart's children's book about a little girl (Clemmie Hooton) who catches a fallen star. Flatly sketched animation, two-dimensional characters and monotonous storytelling means Laura's Star isn't just lacklustre, but sucks almost as powerfully as the vacuum of infinite space.

Clichés kick in from the outset as Laura finds herself friendless in a new town. However, her fortunes change one night when she ventures to the park and comes upon a star that has somehow dislodged itself from the heavens, taken a dive and, um, broken its "foot". Laura plasters up the injury and takes the star home where it bounces around rather a lot and does vaguely impressive magical tricks.

"NAFF AND HUMOURLESS"

Although it works in storybook form, on the screen it's impossible to buy the friendship between a little girl and a semi-inanimate object. Rycker and Rothkirch make no attempt to humanise the star leaving a hole the size of a crater at the heart of this adaptation. On top of that, nothing really happens between Laura's discovery and the inevitable parting scene, which has all the emotional resonance of dropping your pet rock down a drain. Perhaps the most dramatic incident involves Laura's mum (Rebecca Vere) misplacing her cello bow. Dull and uninspired, naff and humourless, Laura's Star is a cinematic black hole.