This movie snuck up on me. I didn't see a single review or trailer for it until the week of it's release.
It's Alice in Wonderland but with a boy as Alice and a girl as the White Rabbit.
Jesse is a quiet boy. He has no friends, he lives on a farm on the brink of total financial collapse in a poor part of the country, and when his own shoes fall apart he has to wear the discards of his older sisters. The family is poor in the pocketbook and poor in imagination.
Then a new girl moves in up the street. Her parents are writers who neglect her when they're in the middle of a writing jag. She's a free spirit who dresses how she likes, behaves how she likes, and lets her imagination run wild.
Jesse/Alice spurns her early attempts to make friends, but slowly gets pulled into her world despite his father telling him to straighten up and be sensible. They make up the fantasy world of Terabithia which they retreat into every day after school.
You'll hear me and most reviewers focus on the fantasy world but it's really a smaller part of the movie than we make it out to be. It's also about these two friendless kids finding each other, struggling with other kids and their families, and just getting through life.
While this is certainly more kid appropriate than "Pan's Labyrinth" you run the very real risk of having to deal with sobbing children.
Good movie, but not DVD worthy.
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