Bridge to Terabithia

When I sat down to watch Bridge to Terabithia, I thought I was watching a Narnia-esque style story about two children who create an imaginary world that somehow comes to life. A movie about what happens to them there and how they become the heroes of the world.

What I found was a story about dysfunctional families, loss, growth, and rebirth.

Jesse is the only son in a family with four girls. The dad (Robert Patrick, in a surprisingly deep and moderated performance) is a bit of a hard ass because his family is living right on the edge; his job and the meager farming they do is barely keeping the family fed. He wants a manly son, but Jesse is interested in art and things creative. The father-son bond is strained and neither can understand the other's perspective.

Next door in moves free-spirited Leslie, who is a cute girl who is also creative, from a functional family of other creative people (both her parents are writers).

Jesse and Leslie's first meeting doesn't go very well, as he wants to beat everyone in a race and would have except he is beaten by Leslie. But they quickly makes friends and together create the world of Terabithia-- a make-believe place that she "writes" and he "draws." It is the place where they are released from the various bullies in their lives and the dysfunctions they both feel in their private lives. Their world, and their friendship, quickly become the most important thing to both of them.

Leslie's free spirit unlocks Jesse and opens him up to possibilities. His family notices the positive changes in him and is happy. He does better at school and becomes more outgoing.

And then tragedy strikes. Jesse withdraws, and doesn't know what to do with himself. He hurts his younger sister inadvertently. However, his reaction to the tragedy causes a schism between he and his dad, and he runs away. His dad finds him and comforts him-- the first bonding they have.

Jesse has to rebuild his relationships, put the tragedy in perspective to his life, pull out the positives, and move on with his life. He does so by helping and becoming a good friend to the younger sister he hurt earlier.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. The children did a good job being "real" and all of the character struck chords with me and took me back to similar situations in my youth. Robert Patrick was a big surprise, as he so rarely plays things low-key. AnnaSophia Robb was a huge surprise as Leslie-- she was very natural and made the movie for me. All of the child actors do a good job just being real and not caricatures of children.

My only complaint is the tragedy itself. While the event itself is handled well, the foreshadowing of it is a little heavy-handed.

I can sort of understand why this film didn't do so well in the theaters-- I'm sure that word of mouth got around (and from what I understand the book is required reading for many grade schools, so a lot of children/parents likely already knew) that this film was something other than what it was advertised as being. If they had been more honest about it, though, they may have received more adult filmgoers.

I really enjoyed this movie. I recommend it if you want to watch a sad, but ultimately hopeful, film about friendship and creativity.