Un ponte per Terabithia

Review: By Morgan Stewart

It is hard to put into writing just how marvelous and wonderful Bridge to Terabithia really is, yet as I attempt it, I can't help feeling disturbed at how ridiculous people are being about the marketing of this film. Thank goodness most real critics have looked past the agreeably deceptive marketing, into the heart and beauty of this film, which, with or with the misleading advertisements is impressive. After seeing it, I struggled to think of a better way of marketing this film, without giving away its ending or taking away the only audience that still seems to watch PG movies, kids.

After watching it, however, I couldn't imagine taking anyone under ten to see it, nor could I imagine anyone under ten enjoying it as much as young adults, or even older audiences would. So, as deceptive as the advertising was, I myself realize that the fascinating story, the charm and skill of the actors, and the good direction of newcomer to live action film-making, Gabor Csupo, more than makes up for the slightly skewed first impressions. And I am eternally grateful that it did not turn into what everyone seemed to want, a cheesy Narnia rip-off. If anything, the movie was a lot better than the preview made it seem to be, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Instead of the brash and rude approach to filming movies, that seems to be the standard today with effects driven movies, Terabithia focuses on the characters, the story, and the heart when telling this beautiful tale. Which, is part of the reason why I enjoyed it so much. Too often now days the story is built around the effects, not around the characters. A rather cumbersome and annoying way to tell a story, or be told a story, if you ask me. Instead, Terabithia uses the talents of both the amazing young actors, and its adult cast to enthrall and absorb the viewer in the magic of imagination and the reality of every-day life.

The story focuses on young Jess Aarons, whose school life and home life aren't all that ideal. He deals with bullies at school, and four sisters at home. Josh Hutcherson, who I haven't particularly enjoyed before, plays the part of Jess perfectly, his emotions and reactions spot on, throughout.

What is a school without the new girl? Leslie Burke, played by AnnaSophia Robb, takes on the part of the imaginative and friendly new girl and brings to Jess gifts of imagination and friendship. Robb truly does a superb job in bringing to life the thoughtful and imaginative Leslie Burke.

All of the supporting cast was also brilliantly portrayed. I especially enjoyed the performances of Robert Patrick as Jess's father, and young Bailee Madison as Jess's little sister May Belle.

Together, Jess and Leslie create a world to call their own. A place that no one else can get to, a place in their imaginations. Terabithia, a land of beautiful creatures and dangerous enemies, springs forth from their imaginations, and becomes a place to call their own, away from the bullies and monotony of everyday life.

What really struck me as brilliant was the limited, yet still perfect number of glimpses into the children's' imaginations. We don't see a lot of Terabithia, which is good, because it is more about the journey of the characters, than the land of Terabithia. That said, it still has quite a few more scenes of adventure than the book by Katherine Patterson, all of which add to, not take away from the story.

The writing, also is quite good. David Patterson, son of the novel's author takes great care when adapting the beloved work of his mother into a screenplay. Most of the lines from the book aren't there, but there are a few which make it in, revealing the care and love that was put into the scripting of this movie. Personally, I enjoy the screenplay of the movie more than the words of the book, but that is just my opinion. The movie's script greatly aided in the believability of the characters, and the motion of the scenes, which were crisp and well-planned.

The movie touched on my every emotion, bringing me to tall peaks of happiness and leaving me teary-eyed and disconsolate, but still had a perfect and satisfying ending. I also, personally thought, the scenes and situations were more powerful, poignant, and realistic, than the book, which surprises me. Usually, the movie can't live up to the book. In this case, the phrase seemed switched around. The book didn't live up to the movie. As weird as it is for me to say this about a movie, Terabithia touched my heart like no film has ever before. And I doubt any film will give me quite the same feeling, ever again.

Jesse Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) is picked on at school, and is forced to wear his sister's hand-me-down sneakers. His father (Robert Patrick) is a poor farmer. Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb) is new in school. Jesse strives to be the fastest runner but then he gets beat by the new girl. It turns out that she's their neighbor. She is an imaginative writer and he's constantly drawing in his book. He's infatuated with the music teacher Ms. Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel). At first, he doesn't like the new girl but he finds her to be a fellow traveler bullied by the other kids. Together, they find a worn out rope swing. They create the imaginary fantasy land of Terabithia just across the creek.

There is a big twist in the movie that turns this into something more than a run-of-the-mill kids movie. It's a fine kids movie for most of the film with great performances from Hutcherson and especially Robb. It's not too sugary. The characters have great personalities and good emotions. It's not the first time that this twist happened in a family movie. It is a big surprise when it happens because it's not really hinted at. This one is done well.

When I sat down to watch Bridge to Terabithia, I did not know quite what to expect. From what I had seen in the trailers, I thought the movie would be about two kids that end up in some magical world, similar to the Chronicles of Narnia (clearly, I did not read the book). Needless to say that I was surprised when actually seeing the movie. I shall not spoil the story for those who have yet to see the movie, but I will say that, in my opinion, this movie is for a more mature audience than one would think. Rather than being a fairytale for youngsters, the movie actually gives the viewer an inside look in a young boy's life and all the troubles he faces, concerning school, family and friends. The setting overall was a lot darker than expected as well. I can be short about the acting. The child-stars that play the lead roles did a great job and really brought the characters to life. On this subject I must give some credit to the director as well, as it is very difficult to work with children and to get them to play the part exactly the way you want them too. One final aspect of the movie that deserves mentioning is the fact that it does not lean on special effects. Although there is a fair amount of nice CGI present in the film, the story dominates. Which in my opinion, is a lot better than the other way around. Overall, I found the movie very enjoyable, but I would advise parents of young children to find out more about the movie, before deciding on whether or not you'll let your kids watch it.

I have read about 30 reviews on here about this movie, many of them saying this film is not for kids. While I do understand where some parents may be coming from, I have to disagree. I personally read this book when I was in 5th grade. That was 11 years ago, yet somehow that book still sticks in my mind. I honestly had completely forgotten what the book was about, but I remember it being about two kids. Therefore, seeing the movie was like experiencing the story all over again. I DO think this is a good movie for children 10+. Like I already mentioned I was 11 when I read the book for the first time and I remember it having quite a positive impact on me. I didn't remember the novel or what it was about, however I did remember that it touched me in a way that very few books ever did. Kids 10+ need to see this movie.

Death is not something to fear. It is just a passing from one stage in life to the next.

When Disney agreed to make the movie, did they read the ending?

To be honest it didn't feel like a Disney movie at all, and that's good. It's not a movie for kids, it's a movie for everyone.

The movie is at the same time so distant from reality and yet so close. It all merged so beautifully. This movie touches so many themes at once: friendship, love, family, money, art, creativity, escape, bullying, school, work, kindness, redemption. What a way to learn about all of this.

Jess and Leslie's story is heart-wrenching enough to make a big man cry (not just once). And I'm not a big man. It's all very beautiful.

I don't know about you all but it was great and psychologically destructive to see my childhood's fantasies come to life. What a journey.

I'm not going to talk on that ending because it was a shock. A shock. And I don't think I'm going to be able to recover any time soon.

I guess we all understood a very important thing from this movie: everybody has a crush on Zooey Deschanel.