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Kindred souls in a magic kingdom

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

February 16, 2007

A simple rope swing serves as the portal to a fantastic kingdom in the children's movie "Bridge to Terabithia," but the real conduit is a tiny, tomboyish girl named Leslie Burke, played by the pixie-faced actress AnnaSophia Robb. For all the computer-generated forest creatures that populate Terabithia, it's Robb's very real smile that contains this movie's magic.

Based on the Newbery-winning novel by Katherine Paterson, this Disney adaptation - co-written by Paterson's son, David - tries to bring to life the inner worlds of two misfit children grappling with the harsh realities of grade school. One is Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson), a shy boy whose family is so poor he's forced to wear his sister's old sneakers. Harassed by bullies and neglected by his father (Robert Patrick), Jess retreats into his sketchbook, filling it with mythical beings. The only human who captures his fancy is Ms. Edmonds (the appealing Zooey Deschanel), the cool, young teacher who leads the class through songs by War and Steve Earle.

But when Leslie arrives at school, Jess finds a kindred soul. Fast enough to beat Jess in a race and brave enough to resist school-yard tyrants, Leslie also has a writer's imagination. It is she who takes Jess into the forest and begins spinning tales of Terabithia, a hidden kingdom whose people are crying to be freed from a dark overlord. As Leslie races through the woods, squirrels become hostile warriors and nearby pinecones become grenades. "What's that?" says a spooked Jess, hearing a distant sound. Leslie, eyes asparkle, says, "That's the sound of the prisoners rattling their chains."

Jess's transformation from skeptic to believer is fun to watch thanks to Hutcherson, whose subtle expressions reveal exactly what he's thinking. Initially, Jess considers Leslie silly and possibly a little weird, but soon he's tossing pinecones alongside her and building a tree house where the two can hide from aggressors (imagined and real). Jess needs Leslie to keep the magic alive: When she's not around the fantasy flickers and he reverts to his usual pessimism. In a way, what Jess has found in Leslie is what grown-ups would call love.

Even when two people share a fantasy, though, their visions may be very different. One problem with "Terabithia" is that the director, Gabor Csupo, a producer and director of animated projects like "The Simpsons" and "Rugrats," puts too much stock in the abilities of computer graphics to make things real. Weta Digital, the company responsible for animating "The Lord of the Rings," brings a similar look to "Terabithia," and the results are disappointingly familiar. The more Csupo tries to convince us his creatures are real, the less magical they seem.

All does not end well in "Terabithia," but to its credit, the film provides no easy answers. And despite the golden twinkling effects of the final frames, the movie's poignancy is real enough.