Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
People always complain about a lack of good family films, but I’m hearing more and more people say that they really like this new film version of the enduringly popular book, and I must admit... I’m curious. This guy’s got his problems with it, though, so let’s see what he’s got to say overall...
Harry,
I've visited your site very often over the last couple of years. Since I live in Jacksonville, Florida, I rarely get to see a sneak preview screening, so I've never been able to voice my opinion in an advance review. Well, since I just saw a sneak preview of "Tuck Everlasting" that my lady friends dragged me too (with appeal of free tickets...mmmm, free), I thought I'd finally get a chance to write.
"Tuck Everlasting," based on the children's novel, was the story of a family (Sissy Spacek, William Hurt, and two Abercrombie-model guys) who has lived in the woods of Tree Gap for a long time because (as is discovered very early on) they once drank from a spring which allowed them to live forever. Winnie Foster (Alexis Biedel, the younger of the young girls on Gilmore Girls) is a discontented rich kid teen, whose parents own the woods (the father is played by Victor Garber, who, as usual, is amazing). Meanwhile, the Tucks are being followed by The Man in The Yellow Suit (Ben Kingsley), who is on to their secret and wants to sell the spring water to those who want to live forever.
For a Disney live-action film, you could do a LOT worse, mostly thanks to Ben Kingsley. This man oozes cool all over the screen every time he's on. He singlehandedly makes the film. The direction is fairly simple, and when the boy tells Winnie towards the end "I'll love you until the day I die," none of the ladies I saw this with had a dry eye (get it? Cuz he'll live forever? So he'll love her forever? Sigh...). This is very much a film that girls will enjoy; like "Sweet Home Alabama," except much less stereotyped and annoying.
However, the acting has some problems, mostly with Biedel. This girl has ONE EMOTION. The Gilmore Girls character, Lorelai? You know how she always talks in that one tone of voice? That's the extent of her acting. Plus, she's not that attractive. The girls get these Abercrombie model leads, and we get some overly skinny girl and Sissy Spacek? Obviously, Disney was appealing to one demographic here: the ladies. Also, Spacek and Hurt were underdeveloped, and while Spacek brought a warmth to Mae Tuck, Hurt had no warmth at all; I had no idea why he was introduced as Angus, and then called 'Tuck' by his own family, who are also named Tuck. Also, the fact that he had a thick Irish accent and the rest of them had little to no lilt in their voice was REALLY distracting.
Ben Kingsley is by light years the highlight of this movie. Victor Garber and the kid who falls in love with Biedel also have their charm, but Kingsley takes the cake. The director knows it too. During the flashbacks that the Tucks have, there are these bright, flashing lights. Apparently, I'm supposed to know this happened in the past by being blinded. It pissed me off a great deal, cuz I could hear the Tucks' past, but couldn't see it due to the strobe light effect burning out my retinas. However, whenever Kingsley was on, the choreography immediately turned cool. He would walk up with his profile in silhouette....very cool effect with the hat and facial hair he had. The director did a decent job, and didn't make it overly mushy except for a few scenes (Winnie and the main boy skipping through a field with tall grass as a sweeping score played; this event is also shown a few more times in flashback).
All in all, "Tuck Everlasting" is a good movie to take a lady to, but guys, you'd probably be bored. For girls: B. For guys: C.
You can call me...
Chest Rockwell of Handsome Boy Modeling School
Thanks, Chest. Guess we’ll be able to check it out for ourselves later this month...
"Moriarty" out.
