The Spiderwick Chronicles
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Holte
Director: Mark Waters
WorkNameSort: Spiderwick Chronicles, The
Our Rating: 4.00
Mark Waters’ film has two things going for it: a laudable degree of craftsmanship and the promise of no sequels. Condensing five short juvenile novels into a single 90-minute film, the screenwriters (including indie director John Sayles) have done a decent job of constructing a tale that will entertain tots without insulting parents’ intelligence. Separated from her husband, Helen Grace (Mary-Louise Parker) moves her kids from New York City to decrepit Spiderwick mansion, which hides a powerful secret that angry young Jared (Freddie Highmore) stumbles across. Suddenly, the kids are deep in the intrigues of a fantastical world that lives invisibly alongside our own.
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2008.