Family

Adventure

Fantasy

Drama

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Paramount Pictures

The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Nickelodeon Movies

United States of America

English

Freddie Highmore

Sarah Bolger

David Strathairn

Mary-Louise Parker

Nick Nolte

Joan Plowright

Andrew McCarthy

Seth Rogen

Martin Short

Jordy Benattar

Lise Durocher-Viens

Tod Fennell

Mariah Inger

Jeremy Lavalley

Kyle Switzer

Tyler Patrick Jones

Ron Perlman

Mark Waters

Caleb Deschanel

Karey Kirkpatrick

James Horner

David Berenbaum

John Sayles

Katina Waters

France Raymond

Gilbert Larose Jr.

Nathalie Girard

Nicole Germain

Pascal Archambault Bouffard

Joe Bailey

Daniel Bryant

Chris Gibbons

Chris Halstead

David A. Link

Tom Rosseter

Russ Sueyoshi

Shelley Campbell

Charles Granich

Steve Jaworski

Kristen Millette

Jordan Schilling

Alan Boucek

Michael Clemens

Scott Hale

Michael Kennen

Satish Ratakonda

David Schnee

Mark Tamny

Colin Epstein

Carlos Huante

Brian Kalin O'Connell

Steve Rawlins

John Zdankiewicz

Robert Bowen

Alexis Robert

Philippe Duberger

Hélène Tessier

Annie St-Pierre

Jacques Viennet

Rejean Brochu

Alain Brochu

Mark Coffey

Rodrigo Ortiz-Parraga

Andy Sisul

Denis Verrette

Marianne Germain

Mathieu Gosselin

Simon Asselin

Eva Quintero

Jocelyne Allard

Marco Légaré

Spiro Tsovras

Dominique Gaglione D'Amico

Maxime Langlois

Marc Tessier

Patrick Chevrier

Fred Berger

Tommy Guenette

Lyssa J. Caster

Dominic Gerard

Yvan Francouer

Josianne Mailloux

Sean Samuels

Adrien Morot

Bruno Gatien

Caroline Aquin

Marie-France Guy

Marci Liroff

James D. Bissell

Joanna Johnston

Michael Kahn

Kimi Webber

Annick Chartier

Réjean Goderre

Steve Barnett

Mark Canton

Larry Franco

Ellen Goldsmith-Vein

Julia Pistor

Tony DiTerlizzi

Holly Black

Tom C. Peitzman

Odette Gadoury

Tim Alexander

Pablo Helman

Julie Kane-Ritsch

Cheryl A. Tkach

Josette Perrotta

Mark Burgeois

Christopher Raimo

Silenn Thomas

David McKeown

Joey Box

Steve Blalock

Isabelle Guay

Jean-Pierre Paquet

Filipe Manuel Neto

**This fantasy film deserves our sympathy and attention.**

This is a good film to watch with the family because it will easily appeal to young people and adults alike. However, I think it never received the attention it deserved, perhaps due to the fact that it was released at a time when the fantasy genre was dominated by a group of other much stronger and more relevant films. The film also strives to show the hidden side of knowledge as something dangerous, less than desirable, following the logic of “there are things we simply shouldn’t know”.

The story begins when a recently divorced woman moves with her children to a rustic house in the forest, which belongs to a great-aunt hospitalized as crazy. This house has been closed for a long time, there is salt on all the windows and an industrial amount of tomato sauce and honey in the kitchen pantry. Intriguing. It is quite evident from the beginning that the brothers get along badly, and that the youngest is very attached to his father and waits for him to return. And it is precisely he who begins to hear noises that convince him that there is something more in the house. He discovers a book with a dark warning, but still decides to read it, finding himself in the power of a series of hidden knowledge that should never have reached him, and that were collected eighty years earlier by a great-uncle, who disappeared without a trace.

Like I said, it's a good film and tells a good story. The characters are good, from the humans to the enchanted figures, and there's a lot of entertainment and creativity here. It didn't have a great reception in America, but it was a success in Europe and continues to appear on television from time to time. Directed by Mark Waters, who already has some experience in films for young people, but was far from being a name to consider from the outset, it has a good group of actors. Freddie Highmore shows talent and commitment, which opened many doors for him in the following years, and Irishwoman Sarah Bolger is not far behind. David Strathairn and Joan Plowright are the adult actors who deserve the most praise for their efforts here. Both were very good, and brought credible and adorably magical characters to life. Nick Nolte also makes a cameo appearance.

Technically, the film relies heavily on high-quality CGI, great visual impact and scenic effect. There's no doubt that there was a lot of money invested in the visuals and cinematography, and it paid off: the film doesn't feel unrealistic or overly fanciful. The enchanted objects and characters seem realistic, worthy of the credit we want to give them. The colors are magnificent, the light is ideal, the studio filming was well done and the house where the film takes place is visually magnificent, worthy of a fairy tale. James Horner provides the soundtrack in an effective but not memorable way.

CinemaSerf

This doesn’t exactly get off to a flying start as siblings “Jared” and “Simon” (Freddie Highmore) arrive at a rundown house with their elder sister “Mallory” (Sarah Bolger) and the mum (Mary-Louise Parker). There is no sign of their absentee dad/husband (Andrew McCarthy) so we are left to assume the worst about his commitment to his family. Of course then there is the usual familial petulance, door slamming and stropping as nobody really wants to live in the ramshackle joint. Luckily, from now on the film diverges away from family melodrama as things start going bump inside the walls and they discover a secret and powerful book. Then out of the woodwork pops “Thimbletack” who reads “Jared” into the story of his great, great uncle “Arthur” (David Strathairn) and warns him that the menacing goblins are determined to steal the book. So long as it stays in the house, protected by an invisible force-field, then all will be fine but when some of the pages fall into enemy hands, a potion emerges that could allow the defences to be breached. What chance this family who range from the intrepid to the terrified via the supremely sceptical, can thwart the evil “Mulgarath” - armed only with salt and some ingenuity? Once we wade through the opening twenty minutes, this becomes an engaging and quickly paced fantasy adventure that Highmore holds together well amidst some magical visual effects, gnarly green critters and lots of daft adventures. Sure, some of the fantastic beasts do look a little “Potter”-esque, but the characters in this story help it stay on the right side of imaginative originality and good fun.

The Spiderwick Chronicles - Trailer

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The Spiderwick Chronicles

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Freddie Highmore

Sarah Bolger

David Strathairn

Mary-Louise Parker

Nick Nolte

Joan Plowright

Andrew McCarthy

Seth Rogen

Martin Short

Jordy Benattar

Box office

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