Bridge to Terabithia: A Movie about Friendship, Life, and Loss
Written: Apr 06 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Great life lessons for tweens, the actors, interesting story
Cons: Ending could have been longer
The Bottom Line: A great movie for parents to watch with their older children.
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| RcknRbn3's Full Review: Bridge to Terabithia |
Last weekend I went to see Bridge to Terabithia with my 11 year-old son. The commercial advertisements for the movie gave it a fantasy, "Narnia-like" feeling, with clips of a mystical forest that becomes a magical refuge for two young friends.
For the most part, I made the right choice by taking my 6th grader. Bridge to Terabithia is a perfect movie for kids in this age group. The main characters in the movie are children, and the story centers on issues that many kids in middle school, and even later grade school grades, may relate to. The main difference between why I liked this movie and what I found to be confusing about the movie is the pre-release advertising and promoting of Bridge to Terabithia.
The Cast
Josh Hutcherson stars as Jess, a 5th grader who has had some trouble at school with the resident school bullies. Jess's character is reserved at first, spending time alone, drawing. Jess is the only son in a family with four sisters, and his relationship with his father tends to go up and down at times.
AnnaSophia Robb plays the role of Leslie, Jess's spirited new neighbor, who also deals with bullies at school, but in a more proactive way. Leslie is a writer, with creative and fun ideas on how to escape the reality of her everyday problems. Like Jess, Leslie has had a difficlut time with friendship. AnnaSophia Robb is dynamic in this role, bringing a sense of youthful adventure and spirit to the movie.
Bailee Madison plays Jess's little sister, May Belle. Bailee Madison is adorable and bright in this role, reminding me of a young Drew Barrymore, when she starred in E.T.. Young May Belle is Jess's tag-along in the movie, who seems to be most connected to Jess, of all his siblings.
The school bully, Janice Avery, is played by a convincing Lauren Clinton. Janice is the ultimate school bully, charging kindergartners money to use the restroom and regularly taking little kids' goodies from their lunches. Janice changes later in the movie, after receiving a lesson of her own, and facing the reality of her own issues at home.
The adult actors in the movie really take a secondary role to the child actors in Bridge to Terabithia. The audience gets to see the world through the eyes of the children in this movie, rather than the adults. Parents are there, teachers are there, but it's the kids who drive the story to completion.
About the Movie
Bridge to Terabithia is a story about love, friendship, growing up, loss, and adventure. All of these themes flow throughout the movie, with the universal themes of friendship and loss standing out the strongest.
Jess and Leslie both face the struggles of fitting in at school, while being harassed by bullies. When they finally connect and form a friendship, they use Leslie's creative imagination to help them escape together to a forest refuge, of sorts. Jess and Leslie learn lessons about friendship and begin to enjoy each other's company.
The movie tells many stories, and could have worked better without the previews that show a much different type of movie. Parts of the movie are certainly about fantasy and imagination, like the scenes where the forest comes alive, but this is not a movie about forest fantasy characters. Kids who are expecting to see a movie like that will be disappointed.
What the movie does best is tell a story about friendship, growing up, dealing with life, and loss. Anyone who read the book, Bridge to Terabithia will want to at least rent the DVD version of the movie. This is the type of movie that parents can watch with their older children. I would recommend this movie to families with children over 7, and to adults who have read the book.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Good for Kids
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Ending
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Epinions.com ID:
RcknRbn3
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Robin
Location: Western New York
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