Tuck Everlasting (2002)

A family discovery for a single man teacher

As a substitute teacher in a middle school English class, I was left this movie to show the class. I knew nothing about it, but I got caught up in its innocent (but never simple-minded) charms. I had to stay late after school to see how it ended! I did not know that Disney had returned so strongly to G and PG rated movie-making. Yes, it is a bit sentimental, but life needs a bit of that, and it offers plenty of food for thought for grown-ups too. A genuine surprise -- and pleasure. June 15, 2008

Disney corrupts. Absolute Disney corrupts absolutely.

Tuck Everlasting (Jay Russell, 2002)

Another watered-down Disney novel adaptation that had already been done better before (Frederick King Keller helmed the book's first movie adaptation back in 1981). Despite having a who's-who-in-Hollywood cast, Lieber and Hart's braindead screenplay renders this, at best, an ineffective shadow of Natalie Babbitt's classic young adult novel. (Perhaps this isn't surprising; Lieber was responsible for the screenplays for Jay Lowi's execrable Tangled, while one of Hart's recent screen credits was for Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.)

In case you somehow never got round to reading the book, a quick synopsis: the Tucks-- father Angus (William Hurt), mother Mae (Sissy Spacek), and sons Jesse and Miles (Jonathan Jackson and Scott Bairstow, respectively)-- live in a wood owned by the Foster clan, whose daughter Winnie (Alexis Bledel) is chafing under the ministrations of her oversheltering mother (Amy Irving). After Winnie sneaks off for some alone time, she stumbles upon Jesse at a spring, and, of course, romance must bloom. Complicating things in the Man in the Yellow Suit (Ben Kingsley), who has been searching for the Tucks for quite a while. Because, you see, the Tucks are immortal, thanks to that very spring. Winnie must choose between drinking from the spring, becoming immortal herself, and staying with Jesse, or separating from him and leading a normal life.

Disney being Disney, the romance between Winnie and Jesse and the action scenes featuring the Man in the Yellow Suit (I wish he'd finally get a name somewhere, to make reviews easier to write) are brought to the forefront, and the more cerebral portions of the novel-- whose central thesis is, of course, whether someone would want to live forever-- is shoved into a dark corner and brought out only when the screenwriters wanted to give a nod to the original novel. The result is one of the more boring action movies, or one of the least romantic romances, depending on how you want to look at it, I've run across this year. Do yourself a favor and rent the first version instead; or, better yet, just read the novel again. **
April 29, 2008

Real Fantasy

The movie was even better than the book for a few reasons. First of all, I had the chance to SEE what I had been reading for the last month: the spring, Winnie looking at it thinking whether she would like to drink from it or not, Jesse falling in love with her, pure sadness in Tuck's home, Miles telling his own tragedy and more. Then, I could picture myself on Winnie's shoes, which I could not by only reading the book: What it would be like to be the same person for 10 years, with the same old routine, and all of a sudden change and grew up in less than one week? Would I keep the Tuck's family secret, or not? Finally, I love the plot and the fact that we can see this girl becoming a woman and how she goes through it, asking herself the biggest question of all times: Would I like to live forever?
Moreover, the end is one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie with Jesse coming back to the woods, I could feel his relief because she had the life he could never have.
The thing that attracted me the most was the voice-over with the soft music, I could actually feel a every sad or happy moment with only one phrase: "You don't have to live forever, you just need to live" and she did.
On balance, this is what I call "Real Fantasy". A fantasy that looks real because we can actually ask ourselves if we would do the same as the main character. Any of the main themes of the plot can happen to us: growing up, making important decisions, changing our mind, finding new friends with secrets and falling in love with an unreachable and everlasting dream.
April 19, 2008

Tuck Everlasting DVD

This DVD is a little disappointing if you are looking for it to follow the story line of the book. The book is about a 10 year old girl. The movie increases her age to 15 in order to appeal to a wider audience. In doing so, I believe they lost some of the real meaning behind the book. April 5, 2008

Really good movie!

Tuck Everlasting is a book that students read in middle school. I hadn't ever heard of it, but we rented the movie and I really liked it. The thought of someone never growing old and never dying was fasinating, and yet sad at the same time. Good acting and a thought provoking story. January 13, 2008

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