THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507140073
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
A FAMILY-FANTASY movie that actually makes sense?
The rare example is ``The Indian in the Cupboard,'' a film that uses simplicity to good advantage in a genre that is usually obsessed with cute animals, stupid adults or karate kicks. Based on the award-winning 1988 novel by Lynne Reid Banks, it chronicles the adventures that ensue when a toy Indian comes to life inside a cupboard - adventures that suggest that imagination, after all, is an effective weapon against reality.
A 9-year-old boy receives the weather-worn cupboard and the toy Indian as gifts on his birthday. When his mom adds a family heirloom key, magic happens. It seems that toys placed inside the cupboard come to life. Primary among them is Little Bear, a Native American member of the Onondaga tribe of the Iroquois.
The time warp as well as the size warp is of interest.
Little Bear comes from the year 1761, a time when his people are in danger of annihilation but the white man hasn't yet become quite the threat he will become. Seemingly not realizing the possible conflict, the boy also places a cowboy and horse in the cupboard, and when they are brought to life, the possibility of a range war in the bedroom looms.
The Native American rap artist known as Litefoot portrays Little Bear with a natural nobility that seems neither phony nor too noble. Little Bear proceeds to build his own lodge, even though the boy helps him with food.
The cowboy (a role once considered by Harrison Ford) is handled with more loudness than humor by David Keith, an actor who has fallen on rough times since his promising beginnings with ``An Officer and a Gentleman.'' Nonetheless, he convincingly suggests the raucous side of the American westward movement.
Interest is added by the fact that the cowboy is of a time period different from the Indian. The gunslinger is from the 1870s, a time when the West was already entering the modern world. He has known the Indian only as an enemy.
The film, to a large degree, is about change. The boy must learn responsibility and commitment in his efforts to care for his live toys, and to keep peace.
Hal Scardino, in the role of the boy, Omri, is not a particularly appealing child actor. However, his gawky look is refreshingly, different from the usual movie kids.
Lindsay Crouse and Richard Jenkins are the parents and, for once, they aren't stupid - just left out. The kid, of course, has to be huge compared to everything in the Indian's world. This is created by notably seamless special effects.
The film was produced in part by husband-wife team Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, who, collectively, have been responsible for such hits as ``Raiders of the Lost Ark,'' ``E.T.'' and ``Who Framed Roger Rabbit.'' They claim they know something about the current movie market that others don't, and in the case of this film, we hope they are right.
The script, which changes the novel's setting from London, was written by Melissa Mathison (Mrs. Harrison Ford), who is responsible for two of the finest scripts for children's films in history - ``E.T.'' and ``The Black Stallion.''
Frank Oz, the creator of Miss Piggy and lesser Muppet stars, is the director. He lets the film lag at times but the leisurely pace is somewhat refreshing. It's good to be able to catch one's breath in a movie theater once in a while.
You will come away from ``The Indian in the Cupboard'' with a respect for the ways of other people as well as an idea of just how silly racism is. This is the rare ``family'' film that is interesting rather than overpowering. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``The Indian In the Cupboard''
Cast: Hal Scardino, Litefoot, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Jenkins,
Rishi Bhat, David Keith
Director: Frank Oz
Screenplay: Melissa Mathison, based on the novel by Lynne Reid
Banks
Music: Randy Edelman
MPAA rating: PG (tense situations but generally acceptable)
Mal's rating: ***
Locations: Chesapeake Square in Chesapeake; Janaf, Main Gate in
Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven Mall in virginia Beach
by CNB