Life, death successfully explored in 'Tuck Everlasting'
By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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| TUCK EVERLASTING (Rated PG for some violence) Three Stars (Good)
The pace sometimes lags and the music can be overbearing, but this magical tale about life, death and immortality respects its characters and its audience equally. Alexis Bledel, Jonathan Jackson, William Hurt, Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Ben Kingsley star for director Jay Russell. Disney, 88 minutes. |
It is romantic but not sexual, magical but not silly, and whimsical but not twee.
Based on the popular novel by Natalie Babbitt, the movie delves into issues of life and death with more subtlety than usual for the normal run of "family fare" and boasts fine performances from up-and-coming stars (as well as rock-solid veterans). It is also an extraordinarily pretty picture, as easy on the eye as a spring garden.
That is not to say it is without flaws; it's just that pointing them out feels a little bit like kicking a puppy.
The center of the story is Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel), a teenage girl chafing at the rigid limits of turn-of-the-century respectability enforced by her anxious mother (Amy Irving). She yearns for freedoms that she can't quite envision, until she meets Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson), the younger son of a strange backwoods couple, Angus and Mae Tuck (William Hurt and Sissy Spacek). The Tuck family lives as if they just climbed off a covered wagon, though each and every one of them seems eternally blissful.
They have a secret, of course, that has drawn the attention of a mysterious stranger (Ben Kingsley), who stirs up trouble for the Tucks — and by extension for Winnie, whose climactic decision defines the story.
Bledel, best known from the TV series "The Gilmore Girls," is flawlessly cast in the role of a girl discovering the woman she is about to become right before our eyes. Her dewy beauty only partly masks fierce curiosity and natural courage that make Winnie's risk-taking seem reasonable.
Director Jay Russell, working from a script by Jeffrey Lieber and James V. Hart, brings the same respect to this family-friendly tale as he did to the charming "My Dog Skip." He treats his characters — and his young audience — as full-bodied human beings with meaningful inner lives, regardless of their ages.
The musical score by William Ross is lovely, though often overbearing. James L. Carter's glowing cinematography on the other hand is just right for the story. Every scene seems washed in otherwordly light, yet substantial and specific.
The movie's most serious problem is pace. Though less than an hour and a half long, "Tuck Everlasting" can feel like flick-everlasting when it hits one too many soggy patches.
Yet, the movie on the whole overcomes its weaknesses with heart and style. This movie does not aim to electrify audiences; it wants to connect.
Rated PG for some violence.
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