Movie Review: Tuck Everlasting

Reviewed by Gerti

It isn’t often when I read the book and watch the movie that I prefer the cinematic version, but “Tuck Everlasting” is one of those exceptions. Writer Natalie Babbitt’s story is charming, and asks some big questions, like who wouldn’t want to be immortal? But for me, the movie fixes some of the flaws in the book, yet also changes some other things that did not need changing! For example, moviemakers changed the plot elements regarding how the man in the yellow suit is injured – but it makes more sense in the book. The plot involving Mrs. Tuck’s jail break is also more believable in the book, while in the film the event is almost played for comic relief. But I am glad the movie version left out the details of the eternal life toad, since that was pretty annoying in the book.

Heartthrob actor Jonathon Jackson plays the teenaged boy Jesse Tuck, who causes all the trouble by letting a young girl named Winifred Foster see him drinking from the fountain of youth. The Foster family doesn’t know it, but that fountain is located under a tree in their forest. Winnie gets peevish one day and runs away to the woods, just as young Jesse is taking a refresher sip. He doesn’t need it, because he’s already been immortal for a long time. He tells her he’s 104, and he’s not joking! But the rest of the family, Jesse’s mom especially in the book, and his brother here in the movie, think that means Winnie needs to be silenced.

In the book, she is only 10 that August. But in this movie version by director Jay Russell, she is in her mid-teens, and that makes more sense to the story line, which has Jesse asking her to drink the water in a few years and be his eternal bride. It seems awkward in the book for a 17 year old to fall for a 10 year old, even a little creepy. In the Disney movie, their teen romance is natural and comprehensible, even while obviously designed to sell movie tickets to teens!

Famous Hollywood people lend their talents to this film, including William Hurt (who does a weird Scottish accent), as well as an always charming Sissy Spacek as his wife and the mother of the boys. Ben Kingsley stars as the man in the yellow suit, but the character is more menacing in the book. BK seems overly creepy in the movie version. Maybe it’s the hair? Amy Irving is also lovely (if less than charming) as Winnie’s overly protective and snobbish mother. Winnie is played by an unknown to me actress, but she plays her part well, and adds to the magic in the scenes she shares with teen hottie Jonathon Jackson.

You will enjoy the 90-minute movie, whether you’re a mother or teenager, especially if you’ve already read the Babbitt book, and it will certainly spark household discussions about whether living forever, trapped at one age for all time, is a good or a terrible idea. Don’t miss the short film “A Visit with Natalie Babbitt” for an inside look at the author, and her most famous novel.