'Bridge to Terabithia' trade reviews - The Hollywood Reporter 2/12/07

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'Bridge to Terabithia'

By Michael Rechtshaffen
The Hollywood Reporter
Feb 12, 2007

Bottom Line: A tenderly executed adventure-fantasy.

Director Gabor Csupo maintains a firm but never
heavy-handed grip on the film's darker developments.

Author Katherine Paterson's Newbery Award-winning "Bridge to Terabithia," about a pair of outsider school kids who create a vivid fantasy world to deal with the frustrations in their young lives, has made that tricky passage to the big screen faithfully intact.

A gently contained live-action feature debut by Gabor Csupo, co-founder of the busy animation studio Klasy-Csupo, the fantasy-adventure incorporates the novel's magical and emotional elements without overplaying either -- a balance that hasn't always proven easy to maintain in the world of kid-lit adaptation.

While Disney's advertising seems to be aimed at those hankering for another "Chronicles of Narnia" (minus the lion, witch, wardrobe and production budget), this Walden Media co-presentation functions more as something of a tween "Pan's Labyrinth," and, as such, could translate into solid, midrange business.

Of course, being true to the source material helps when one of your screenwriters is Paterson's son David, for whom the novel was written almost 30 years ago. He and Jeff Stockwell ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") efficiently lay down that road that leads to Terabithia with the introduction of lead characters Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie (Annasophia Robb). He's a budding artist when he's not doing chores for his struggling farmer parents (Robert Patrick, Kate Butler) or being tormented by his four <TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 10px" align=left border=0 valign="center"><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle><SCRIPT language=javascript>CM8ShowAd("Middle2");</SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>sisters or the reigning school bullies.

full review at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?JSESSIONID=FRyxX0xGytp0ZCN314G XwysTQQpXQDZNdyHyBtll11h7m10fGjnV!=8800

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New U.S. Release

Bridge to Terabithia

By Justin Chang
Variety
February 12, 2007
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'Bridge to Terabithia'

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<!-- end photos --><!-- /noindex -->A Buena Vista release of a Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media presentation of a Hal Lieberman Co. and Lauren Levine production. Produced by Lieberman, Levine, David Paterson. Executive producer, Alex Schwartz. Co-producers, Kevin Halloran, Tim Coddington, Meyer Shwarzstein. Directed by Gabor Csupo. Screenplay, Jeff Stockwell, David Paterson, based on the book by Katherine Paterson.

Jess Aarons - Josh Hutcherson
Leslie Burke - AnnaSophia Robb
Jack Aarons - Robert Patrick
Ms. Edmonds - Zooey Deschanel

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The imaginary world dreamed up by two youngsters in Katherine Paterson's coming-of-age classic has been realized imperfectly, but with intelligence and sensitivity nonetheless, in "Bridge to Terabithia." Some literal-minded attempts at magical realism are redeemed by the film's emotional texture, winning chemistry between the tyke leads and scrupulous adherence to a childlike point of view. A tougher sell than Walden Media's recent kid-lit adaptation, "Charlotte's Web," the superior "Bridge" should play well theatrically but may connect better with audiences on homevid; in either venue, parents and children should have tissues at the ready.

full review at http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117...ryid=1263&cs=1