
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995                   TAG: 9509060018
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`MAGIC': THE BEST PART IS THE SCENERY

To judge "Magic in the Water" against the competition this summer, it's better than "Free Willy 2" but it doesn't come close to "Babe." In short, this one has a few of the strengths and all the weaknesses of conventional Hollywood kids' entertainment.

The young audience at a recent matinee was clearly restless in the long, slow stretches - one little girl had a wonderful time playing with the neat green and red lights on her new sneakers - but they did pay attention to the finish.

The movie begins with divorced radio psychologist Jack Black (Mark Harmon) taking his 10-year-old daughter Ashley (Sarah Wayne) and her older brother Josh (Joshua Jackson) off on vacation to a remote Canadian town of Glenorky (actually Kaslo, British Columbia). Orky, the legendary lake monster, is the town's primary tourist attraction.

The reclusive creature is also said to be the source of a curious group psychosis that afflicts a few local men who are being treated by Dr. Wanda Bell (Harley Jane Kozak). Jack hardly notices. For him, this is a working vacation. With his laptop, book project and two cell phones, he doesn't even have time for his kids.

Of course, Ashley is a believer, particularly after she discovers that Orky shares her taste for Oreo cookies. The rest of the story by Icel Dobell Massey and director Rick Stevenson is standard-issue stuff about toxic-waste-dumping industrialists. Toward the end, things become a little more imaginative with the introduction of Hiro (Frank Sotonoma Salsedo), a Japanese boy who falls for Ashley.

Throughout, Stevenson makes the most of the spectacular scenery, and he chooses to reveal Orky mostly through a series of understated special effects. The performances are good from both young and old, though there's really nothing to the thin characters. And, despite the title, the "magic" that's absolutely necessary for any fantasy is nowhere to be found here.

Magic in the Water

** A Columbia TriStar release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 98 min. Rated PG for a little mild cussing.

by CNB