Coraline had me dazzled from beginning to end. At times, in the beginning, it seemed slow and I wondered where it was going, but it still managed to keep me engaged. Even though they seem to be in a very isolated world, the story deals with conflicts of modern life, busy parents, unconforming teens, job insecurity, and the allure of our dreams, among others. I loved the picture. However, I do not think its for young children. Even teenagers might miss the moral of the story.
What I enjoyed most about this movie was the transformation in the main character's view of his own life. When he finally confesses to Muma, Tarik's mom, that in his current life, he just pretends to be busy, he is describing a lifestyle or state of affairs many of us can identify with.
The movie also depicts the realities that immigrants have to live with. Not having committed any crime, Tarik is imprisioned, purely based on racial profiling, and is deported. This is a sad consequence of our current government's deplorable policies on immigration.