THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290079
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
``TOM AND HUCK,'' the latest movie adaptation from Mark Twain's books, has a TV-movie look that misses all the satire but keeps many of the plot twists of the original.
There is obviously no crying need for another movie version of Twain's often-filmed ``The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.'' This film is just a quickie star vehicle for the Walt Disney studio's current teen heart-throb, 14-year-old Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Thomas' stock soared when the terrible movie ``Man of the House,'' co-starring Chevy Chase, became a big hit on the strength of young Thomas' draw. With little time before he had to go back to work on the hit TV series ``Home Improvement,'' a quickie version of ``Tom Sawyer'' must have been all anyone could come up with.
To its credit, this version keeps many of the darker aspects of the plot. Tom and Huck witness a murder in the graveyard. They take a blood oath not to talk about it, and Tom is hounded by the foul villain, Injun Joe.
To its discredit, the studio sells the film as kiddie fare, complete with a cartoon as an opener. Children under 7 may be traumatized by the knifings, which are filmed as if this were ``Friday the 13th.''
Director Peter Hewitt seems content to let Thomas use the broad style of TV comedy to play Tom Sawyer. Thomas is cocky enough for the part, but the smudges of makeup fail to suggest early American roughness. In a kind of Beatles haircut and baggy clothes, this is a Tom Sawyer spawned by MTV.
Brad Renfro, who was so believably Southern in ``The Client,'' is a soft and vulnerable Huck Finn. He plays Huck as something of a naive rebel (and looks years older than his friend Tom).
Both boys look as if they'd rather go to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert than go rafting down the Mississippi.
It seems that every generation of boy star has to take on one or the other of these roles, from Jackie Coogan to Mickey Rooney to Ron Howard and Elijah Wood. This just happens to be Thomas' turn.
The 1840s pre-Civil War setting is largely ignored, with not a black person viewed in the entire town.
With praise for at least keeping the basic plot, one still wishes some of the true grit and boyhood mischievousness of the original might have been kept.
The movie strings the events together with little semblance of style or drama.
At best, one can only hope the movie will encourage young viewers to read the book, and their parents to go back and read it again. ILLUSTRATION: FRANK MASI /Buena Vista Pictures
Tom Sawyer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, left) and Huck Finn (Brad
Renfro) find adventure at every turn in ``Tom and Huck.''
MOVIE REVIEW ``Tom and Huck''
Cast: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Eric Schweig, Charles
Rocket, Amy Wright, Marian Seldes
Director: Peter Hewitt
Screenplay: Stephen Sommers and David Loughery
MPAA rating: PG (violence)
Mal's rating: two stars
Locations: Chesapeake Square, Greenbrier in Chesapeake; Janaf,
Main Gate in Norfolk; Lynnhaven 8, Pembroke in Virginia Beach
by CNB