Where would Hollywood be without the absentee father? Too many stories have been told about children who rely on imaginative adventures to fill an emotional void created by a disappearing dad. Disney’s animation department has milked the idea for decades – rent “Pinocchio,” “The Jungle Book,” “The Lion King” or “Tarzan” for examples.
Up next is “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” a moderately faithful live-action adaptation of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi’s children’s books. Compared to the recent glut of teenage fantasy films, “Spiderwick” rests comfortably between the backyard fabrications of “A Bridge to Terabithia” and the sprawling, Biblical reach of “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
Twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace (dexterously personified by Freddie Highmore) are polar-opposite siblings whose lives are disrupted when their dad (Andrew McCarthy) leaves their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) for another woman. The family – which includes headstrong older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger) – moves to the spooky mansion of deceased uncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) but soon discovers they’re not alone in this home.
Spiderwick, we learn, spent a lifetime researching bizarre creatures that inhabited the ominous forest around his cobwebby manse. He unearthed hobgoblins with anger issues, flying griffins and a malevolent ogre named Mulgarath (Nick Nolte) who would stop at nothing to obtain a book that contained all of Arthur’s secrets.
Director Mark Waters condenses five “Spiderwick” books into a streamlined feature film by trimming some fat as he retains the bulk of Black and DiTerlizzi’s creations. His special effects are commendable, though I found myself more impressed by Highmore’s high-wire act playing two characters. Technology being what it is today, the versatile young actor can share scenes with himself in a virtually seamless environment. As if creating an alternate universe isn’t difficult enough, Waters shoulders the responsibility of juggling resourceful ways to shoot his main actor so the kid can rise to the challenge and play twins. Kudos to both of them for pulling it off.
While far from a horror film, “Chronicles” can be awfully scary. A toddler sitting near me at the promotional screening was visibly spooked by Nolte’s hulking Mulgarath and his scaly minions – they resemble the menacing mucus trolls in the Mucinex commercials. Near the end of the film, the boy actually asked his father if they could leave the theater. The dad, sensing an imminent conclusion, told his boy the movie was almost finished. “But how do you know?” the skeptical son asked.
Well, because the dad has seen this particular brand of story time and time again, and its ebb and flow is relatively predictable. Black and DiTerlizzi create different threats for their characters, but it’s the same type of danger we associate with these adventures. “Spiderwick” is inventive without being innovative. It’s fantastical, but not fantastic.
