Heavenly Tuck Everlasting

It's not as violent as "Red Dragon's" nor as sex-drenched as even "Sweet Home Alabama's," but Disney's Tuck Everlasting has something greater: heart.

Set in the early twentieth century, Tuck Everlasting is a visually stunning film with dramatic shots of forests and lakes that make the magical elements of the story seem believable. In director Jay Russell's world of woods, sun, and stone, even immortality seems possible and, for the Tuck family, it is.

Surprising faithful to Natalie Babbitt's young adult novel, Tuck Everlasting tells the story of Winifred Foster's ("Gilmore Girls" Alexis Bledel) encounter with the handsome Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson) and her discovery of his family's deep secret. When Winifred stumbles upon their secret she is kidnapped away from her stifled corset-and-tea upper-class lifestyle and introduced to a new world where the rule is to live life to its fullest.

Tuck Everlasting avoids the expected pitfall of focusing only on the romance between Winifred and Jesse. Instead, the film also deals with the greater concepts of life, eternity, loyalty and family with a level of respect and maturity uncharacteristic of normal Disney-cuteness movies. The film's maturity may be attributed to its all-star cast of Ben Kingsley, Sissy Spacek, William Hurt, Victor Garber, and Amy Irving.

Although the film often moves slowly, it reflects the timelessness of the characters who often seem to move in slow motion as they try to enjoy each moment of life and live each day by the film's ultimate lesson articulated by Angus Tuck to Winifred: do not fear death, only a life unlived.