Directed by: Gabor Csupo
Premise: An adaptation of the children’s book by
Katherine Paterson. Jesse (Josh Hutcherson), an artistic young man living in a
small midwestern town, befriends Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb), a new neighbor, and
the two escape from their lives in an imaginary fantasy world they create in a
forest behind their homes.
What Works: Bridge to Terabithia is a film
about children, but it is as much for adults as it is for youngsters. The film
is similar to Pan’s
Labyrinth, although much more family friendly, and it is in part a
defense of fantasy as a mechanism for understanding and coping with daily
struggles and with life’s bombshells. This is done very well in the second
half of the film as Jesse uses his imagination and artistic talents to cope with
loss and his fantasy gives him the means to make sense of tragedy and move on.
The relationship between Jesse and Leslie is very good. The two child actors are
very mature and the writing of their characters is not condescending to children
or adults. Robb in particular is very good and she leads the picture, elevating
the relationship and making it an authentic depiction of pre-teen romance.
What Doesn’t: The story takes a while to get
going and even once it does the bulk of the story is episodic, lacking an
overarching narrative goal. Unlike Pan’s Labyrinth, the daily lives of
these two children are not very traumatic the film does not create a solid
antagonist in the real world nor compelling tasks to be completed in the fantasy
world. The story has the nugget of a conflict between Jesse and his father
(Robert Patrick), but whenever the film moves toward escalating that conflict,
it backpedals and does not allow it to get started. That is a shame, since the
film could have had a more significant reconciliation with the father in the
end. Also, the fantasy sequences, although well done, do not have much at stake
in them because we are constantly reminded that this is not real.
Bottom Line: Bridge to Terabithia is a very
nice, family friendly film. Like some recent fantasy films such as The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and last
year’s adaptation of Charlotte’s
Web, it respects both its child and adult audiences and it respects the
genre. While it does not reach the heights of Peter Jackson’s The
Lord of the Rings or Pan’s Labyrinth, it is a solid film.