A spooky house... goblins and ogres and fairies... a redemptive adventure for unhappy kids... Zzzz. In this era of Harry Potter and "Enchanted" and "Stardust" and etc., how much whimsical fantasy at cineplexes can we put our kids-or ourselves-through?
Little did I know how good "Spiderwick" would turn out to be. That's largely because its magical elements are impressively, seamlessly integrated in a realistic story about an already-broken family further coming apart over one member's grief and rage.
Jared Grace (Freddie Highmore) is one of those kids who serves as a lightning rod for a troubled family. His hostility toward his mom (Mary-Louise Parker) for her breakup with his dad (Andrew McCarthy) makes Jared a convenient target for suspicion every time something gets broken or weird in the aged, abandoned house inherited by the Grace family.
And a lot gets weird-fast-both inside and outside the house. At one time the residence of a quirky scientist (David Strathairn) who wrote a "field guide" to mythical creatures in the area (and who then disappeared), the house is a sitting duck for a big, bad ogre (Nick Nolte) trying to get his hands on that same tome.
Scary though he is, Nolte's beastie gets a lot of help from a large assortment of ugly, aggressive goblins who surround the Grace family's new home. Poor Jared, the only member of his family who can see these things, is initially ignored and ridiculed by his twin brother (also Highmore) and sword-wielding sister (Sarah Bolger). But eventually the entire family experiences the wrath of these monsters, and Jared leads the way to get help from an unexpected source.
Director Mark Waters ("Mean Girls")-working from a screenplay partially written by John Sayles ("Lone Star," "The Return of the Seacaucus Seven") and based on a best-selling series of books for youngsters by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black-does a superb job of keeping his special effects-created critters looking like they truly are chasing and terrifying poor Jared and company. He also knows how to convey the seriousness of the characters' emotional pain, and make Jared's will to survive the very real engine of an otherwise chimerical story.
Adding to the film's delights is actress Joan Plowright, who plays the kids' great-aunt and brings a measure of soul to the project. For anyone whose eyes automatically glaze over at the thought of another magic-saturated family entertainment, there is good news about "The Spiderwick Chronicles." More than its power to wow, it has the power to move people[[In-content Ad]]