Tuck Everlasting

Make no mistake: this is a nice movie, but it's one of those films you can't help but feel could have been so much better.

The first 20 minutes was very promising with spectacular scenery, overall cinematography and interesting characters. But, it started to slow down and then just bogged down more and more with a teen romance. Yes, it finished fairly well but unless you are a teen or 20-something young woman, I doubt this film will hold your interest.

Perhaps even for some women, this movie did not turn out as dramatically as it should have been. It's just too flat. Too bad; it looked like a "keeper' for awhile.

I can be a pretty cynical fella, but I had actually read the young adult novel this film is based on and really enjoyed it. The message of the book is brought to the screen and I was thoroughly impressed with the adaptation. A fine cast does great work and Ben Kingsley has a field day playing the mysterious Man In The Yellow Suit. The film is a little slow going in the beginning but all the strands and backstory must be laid out and once it gets going - the film moves with a beauty and tenderness that is rare. The music score is lovely as is the cinematography but overall, the message of the movie is what is special - it is not how LONG we live, but HOW we live. A beautiful film - for kids 9 and up.

Like many other people on this website, I myself had to read the novel upon which this film is based when I was in the sixth grade. I really can't remember it that much, but seeing the movie brought some of it back to me.

The movie strays from Babitt's novel in some ways, as the "love" between two central characters is romanticized slightly. Otherwise, the story is not changed all that much, but there are still a few minor changes to the story that I could remember.

Most of the cast was perfect. Ben Kingsley fits the role of The Man in the Yellow Suit pretty well. Out of place kinda are Sissy Spacek and William Hurt who have the minority roles in this film. They were still quite good, though.

The story flows nicely, but there were still a few scenes that were different as I had envisioned. I pictured the Treegap Constable having a bigger role, and I also envisioned there to be more 19th century costume and prop designs. Just some things to be kept in mind when the next remake of this novel comes out in another thirty years or so.

TUCK EVERLASTING: 4/5.

'Tuck Everlasting' is one of those sweet movies with a lot of flaws you don't care about. You could ask question after question but I did not find a reason to do so. The story about an immortal family and a young teenager that comes into their lives is probably a well known story for some audiences, but I didn't know it. The immortal family exists out of father Angus Tuck (William Hurt), mother Mae (Sissy Spacek) and two sons named Miles (Scott Bairstow) and Jesse (Jonathan Jackson). The young teenager who is taken by the family so she can not reveal their secret is Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel).

Although at first the family thinks Winnie needs to be killed, things change when Jesse Tuck and Winnie start to have feeling for one another. Winnie becomes a new member of the family. In the mean while we have Winnie's parents (played by Amy Irving and Victor Garber) looking for her. A man in a yellow suit (Ben Kingsley) is actually looking for the Tuck family but thinks he will find the girl with them as well. He knows how the Tucks have found their immortality and has plans for himself.

You can probably understand how many flaws a movie like this must have. There a couple of reasons we don't really want to ask too many questions. First of all it is a good thing the movie keeps the attention in the middle of everything. It does not really focus on the reason of immortality, it does not really focus on the relationship between Jesse and Winnie and it does not really focus on the outsiders like Winnie's parents and the Kingsley-character. Although that is not a good thing in most movies it works perfectly here.

Another reason you don't want to ask questions is Alexis Bledel together with Jonathan Jackson. They are sweet together, have some nice scenes. Although you sometimes see the Rory Gilmore of 'The Gilmore Girls' Bledel does a nice job with her Winnie Foster. Jonathan Jackson, who I only know from a small part in 'Insomnia', is a good choice for Jesse. This and three other respectable actors like Hurt, Spacek and Kingsley make sure the movie does not fail on that level.

All this together with a very nice score and some beautiful images make this a very good movie. It is perfect for the whole family. If you can forget the flaws, forget the question you might have, you must be able to fully enjoy this.

I will start by saying that I have read the book and it is one of my all-time favorites. The movie stuck pretty close to the book, right down to several quotes taken from the book. There were a few changes that surprised me. For example, in the book, Miles is a mild mannered person. In the movie, he's extremely bitter because of what happened to him due to his immortality. (Sorry, no spoilers) It was a good change.

The casting was amazing. Alexis Bledel plays Winnie Foster. Like Rory on Gilmore Girls, Winnie is very serious, but wants to have fun. William Hurt didn't strike me as someone old and wise, but he portrays Angus Tuck very well. Sissy Spacek was great as Mae Tuck, showing her character's motherly side toward Winnie.

Ben Kingsley plays the Man in the Yellow Suit (TMITYS). TMITYS is a great villain in the same league as Lex Luthor. He has no superpowers, but his mere presence can send super humans (immortals) running for cover. In the book, he's a vague character. He doesn't even seem to be a villain until later in the book. All we know is that he wants to find the Tucks and their spring. In the movie, TMITYS is presented as a villain, and we find out more about what he wants and how he knows about the Tucks. Bravo, Mr. Kingsley!

One last thought... (I know I said 'no spoilers', so I'll be as discreet as I can.) Don't let the ending disappoint you. I told my cousin the end of the movie and she said it was a terrible ending. It wasn't terrible. One character just made a choice. I strongly recommend this movie to people of all ages.