THE ADVENTURES OF HUCK FINN. Directed and written by Stephen Sommers; produced by Laurence Mark for Walt Disney. Starring Elijah Wood and Courtney B. Vance. Rated PG.
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This latest filming of perhaps the original "buddy" story meets the definition of good, but not great, family entertainment: the kids will enjoy it, and the parents won't be bored out of their skulls.
Writer/director Sommers gives us a pleasantly entertaining, though somewhat superficial, version of one of the great stories in American literature. Former English majors (like myself) will find it much too superficial, but its entertainment values are solid enough for most other viewers.
In order to escape from his brutal father (played by Ron Perlman with enough frightening menace to be a real concern for parents of younger children), Huck (Wood) fakes his death and goes to live on an island in the Mississippi. There, however, he meets up with his friend Jim (Vance), a slave who is running away from his owner. When they learn that Jim is suspected of murdering Huck, they decide really to run away and take off downriver.
The pace of the movie is somewhat jerky, a difficult problem to avoid since the story is formed of largely disconnected episodes on shore, with interludes on the river. There is generally enough action to keep younger viewers interested, although more discerning viewers might wish for more continuity.
Wood is an adequate Huck, and occasionally conveys the irreverent spunk that is at the heart of Mark Twain's character. Overall, though, he's just too cute to be completely convincing, at least for viewers who have read the book. But I suppose he will be popular enough with those who haven't, especially those close to his own age.
Vance does a good job as the buddy. He convinces Huck to act from what we can easily see are Huck's own best impulses, rather than follow the generally accepted moral code. In other words, Huck has to go against a lifetime of southern learning when he decides not to turn Jim in, but to help him gain his freedom.
It's a nice moral lesson to set up for a young audience, and we can forgive the somewhat heavy-handedness of the anti-racist message since its heart is so obviously in the right place.
April 14, 1993