ased on the classic children's book, Tuck Everlasting centers around Winnie Foster (Bledel), a 15-year-old girl living at the turn of the century. Winnie longs to escape the stifling environment of her home, a vast estate owned by her domineering parents (Amy Irving and Victor Garber). When she learns that they intend to send her to boarding school, she takes off into the woods and loses her way.
While wandering, she spies a boy named Jesse drinking from a spring hidden beneath a tree. She barely has time to react before an older boy, Miles, appears and whisks her away to a secluded cabin. There, she is introduced to the boys' parents, Angus Tuck (Hurt) and his wife Mae (Spacek). Winnie wants to go home, but the Tucks are hesitant to let her go. She quickly learns that time with the Tucks is elastic and inestimable. She spends a day, or several days, exploring with Jesse, who is quickly falling in love with her. She's falling for him, too, and missing her home less with each passing day.
But there's something a little different about the Tucks, and one night, after exchanging vows of love with Jesse, Winnie learns their secret. Jesse, who appears to be only 17 years old, is actually 104. Like the rest of his family, he can never grow old or die. They were granted immortality after drinking from the waters of the spring where Winnie saw Jesse for the first time.
Meanwhile, Winnie's parents enlist the help of a mysterious and sinister man in a yellow suit (Kingsley) to help find their lost daughter. When he discovers the secluded cabin in the woods, the Tucks have to run, leaving Winnie with the choice of drinking from the spring or living out her natural life as a normal girl.
A light and airy fantasy for a family audience
Tuck Everlasting is a lovely sugar pill of a movie. Beautifully shot and delicately told, it doesn't leave any lasting impressions beyond general platitudes such as "Don't fear death, but rather the unlived life." It's the kind of film that young adults, especially girls, are likely to embrace wholeheartedly, just as they did the book on which it's based.
Directory Jay Russell captures the beauty of the magnificent woods with a lilting blend of greenish and golden light. Credit also goes to production designer Tony Burrough and director of photography James L. Carter for creating a realistic and nostalgic turn-of-the-century environment. And with nary a blemish in sight, the two young actors at the center of the film are certainly easy on the eyes.
Making her big-screen debut as the spirited Winnie, Bledel—who is perhaps best known as Rory Gilmore on the WB Network's Gilmore Girls—has a fresh, glowing quality that fits well within the period setting, but the minute she speaks, it's clear that she's no wilting violet. She has a certain 21st-century confidence and willful defiance that may suit her well as a present-day teen on television, but seems anachronistic here. Jackson gives her a run for her money as the prettiest face on the screen. With so much attention focused on the two youths at the center of the film, the vast talent pool among the adult members of the cast is wasted.
The film is not for everyone, however. The modest pace and sugary love story might put off those looking for more meaty fare at the multiplex. Taking a cue from the time period it depicts, Tuck Everlasting is simpler and more leisurely than many films today. It goes down easy, but doesn't give you much to chew on.
