Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507180008
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It fires the imagination and deals with issues - like the responsibility that comes with power - in subtle ways. Magic is still magic - but it is anything but simple.
Director Frank Oz and screenwriter Melissa Mathison, who wrote "E.T.," have done a very good job of translating this excellent children's story into film. And by giving it an American setting - specifically Brooklyn, from the looks of it - the story gains the ability to deal with a subject that has turned out to be pretty popular this summer: American Indian history.
Except this time, the approach is truthful. It's not too much for children, and adults won't miss the poignancy of certain bits of dialogue between young Omri and the man he has brought to life with his magical cupboard, an Onondaga (Iroquois) named Little Bear.
The story turns on the cabinet that 9-year-old Omri (Hal Scardino, who had a supporting role in ``Searching for Bobby Fischer'') receives for his birthday. He discovers in the solitude of his room that plastic figures come to life locked momentarily inside the cabinet.
Little Bear (Litefoot) is his first and most important discovery. Omri is practically out of his mind with joy - and the burden of his amazing secret - so he eventually tells his best friend, Patrick (Rishi Bhat). The cupboard proves to be an overwhelming temptation - and finally, a pretty serious, grown-up kind of problem.
Adults never intervene in the story, though they are good, kind, politically correct people. Omri and Patrick - with a little wisdom from Little Bear - learn how to do the right thing, it seems, because their parents have given them just enough of the stuff they need to make smart decisions.
It's a bit much, at times, and the score - especially in the movie's first half - just refuses to leave you alone to have your own reactions. The momentous first scene when Omri discovers the living Little Bear, for example, is almost completely spoiled by overwrought music when the terrific special effects would have been enough.
And Scardino as Omri is just a little too good for our own good. The book's Omri is a good bit more conflicted about doing what he knows he must do.
But there is a lot here that's pretty unusual in a Hollywood children's movie. What may be most unusual is the absence (except one) of cheap shots at easy laughs or "Home Alone"-style pratfalls. Someone had the brains to leave well enough alone.
Indian in the Cupboard
***
A Paramount-Columbia Pictures release showing at Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Cinemas. 1 hour and 30 minutes. Rated PG because Omri says "damn."
by CNB