As much as I tend to enjoy Dahl's works, this one left me cold. There were a few moments that made me smile ("Here sir, Mr. President, sir," said the Chief Spy. He had a false moustache, a false beard, false eyelashes, false teeth and a falsetto voice. -- there is an illustration, too!) and Wonka remains a great character, so I won't knock it down to 1 star. The plot meandered aimlessly, however, and the ending didn't jibe with the rest. (view spoiler)[The US President is made out to be completely ridiculous, so would going to the White House really be the ultimate great reward that gets the aged grandparents out of bed? (hide spoiler)] There were some unfortunate ethnic portrayals in there, too. They were brief and I wouldn't say they're Mickey-Rooney-in-Breakfast at Tiffany's bad, but I winced nonetheless.