Reviewing Movies

Forty years ago I could have been one of those children. Can't believe I wrote that. This is a Disney production; the first I've watched in some time. When you manage to get past the Superman/dog spoof and other previews or manage to bypass them and the Tinkerbell sequence the movie proper begins. Jesse is at that age when boys swear off girls for life and Jesse has a special cross to bear having 4 sisters. With an interest in drawing and painting not shared by his hard-scrabble father who is struggling to make ends meet and facing the attentions of class bullies at school Jesse's only claim to fame is his ability to run faster than his classmates. Arrives a new female student who beats him in a race and she lives next door! Whereas Jesse's parents are bound up in the struggle to raise a large family without going broke Leslie's are writers who, while they are working on a book allow their daughter the freedom to roam at will. While Jesse has been drilled with the harsh realities of life Leslie helps him let his imagination soar. Together they create a magic kingdom that is their's alone.

As Katherine Paterson, the writer of the book upon which this tale is based, says, the Disney People did a credible job of bringing the world of imagination to life for us without allowing the special effects to get in the way. Despite his representation as a dreamy art-loving kid Jesse proves he has paid attention while he worked with his handyman father constructing a castle-like tree-house and ultimately an impressive plank bridge. And although he has passively endured the bullying of other boys he proves that he can, when provoked enough, throw a mean punch. Way before its time this tale seeks to deal with the causes of aggression and its motivation rather than simply punish it. In a world where imagination is denigrated in favour of hard science it is a pleasure have a chance to vicariously allow it to soar.