Tom's Midnight Garden

Being British & of an age; I'd previous seen the two BBC versions of the book (1974 & 1989). This film scores over those in it's production values and is a faithful retelling of the story (which works well on screen). However I found two things rather let it down the biggest being the age of the actor playing Tom. Tom is meant to be a young boy of 8 or 10 but here he is played by a 17 year old, and though he does it well, it really doesn't work in places; especially losing the effect of Hetty growing up and leaving him behind. The second thing, I didn't like was the music, which I found very intrusive and annoying in places. That said, it's a good film. I live near Chenies Manor & the garden look beautiful in this. I noticed the old BBC versions are on Youtube; so have a glance at them to compare. And have a good laugh at 1970's Tom's hair-style !

Unlike many films of this nature, this film does not spend ages character building before launching into the story. The pre-story is short, with the film being plot driven. The characters are not explored in depth, instead it is the relationship between Tom and Hatty that is the focus.

That is not to say that you do not feel for the characters, the empathy is there. Like the best films, not everything is explained, and it is for you to discover it for yourself, leaving you with the desire to say your discovery to the characters. Slowly you become drawn into Tom's world.

The settings are beautiful, the characters are generally well acted, and the ending, whilst obvious, is still wonderful. Warning: may lead to tears !

I would, without question, recommend this film. It appeals to everyone from children to adults, and works on a few different levels.

Old age and youth meet up in a loving way that is seldom seen in film, and for this alone I give this film a 7. Both Greta Scacchi and James Wilby are underused and Andrew Way gives a moving performance as Tom, and despite the fact he was perhaps too old for the role it did not matter to me. I wish he had continued giving performances in other films of equal value. But what I did dislike was the beginning and the end. I found it dissipated the magic by putting a cosy, and to me a banal ending to the story. Ambiguity about Tom's future as a man went out of the window and as I have not read the book I hope the mistake was not made there. I just need to add that Joan Plowright gave a performance that moved me to tears. How does she do it ? Magic ?

This film is great.I watched it in school because we were reading the book. Tom Long's brother Peter Long has measles so Tom has to stay with his aunt Gwenn Kitson and uncle Alan Kitson.Tom's aunt and uncle live in a very strange house.A couple of days later Tom makes a new friend, Hatty and they play together.Tom is actually invisible so it makes them playing even better.Hatty is growing up very quickly when Tom is just a kid until Hatty becomes a real women.Tom is telling this true story of when he was young (12 years old). In school we had a trip which was going to see Tom's midnight garden at a theatre and it was fabulous.I got a better understanding when I watched the film because it was great.

I first came across this story when I was a 12 year old watching it on my primary school television. That was back in 1974 and it was a 3 part series. Fast forward to 2008. I managed to track down this version through a website called www.play.com. I sat down and watched it from beginning to end tonight and I was completely captivated by the whole movie. The scenery was breathtaking and the storyline was just as I remembered it. It was one of those movies that you simply did not want to end. I thought the acting was superb throughout but a special mention here for the superb actress that is Joan Plowright. Hers was a small part but she stood out like the fantastic actress she is. A previous reviewer said it was a film that the often criticised British Film Industry is so good at making. I couldn't have put it better myself.