Psycho's Movie Reviews #172: Tom's Midnight Garden (1999)

Tom's Midnight Garden is a 1999 family fantasy film directed by Willard Carroll and starring Nigel Le Vaillant, Marlene Sidaway and Serena Gordon. The screenplay (by Willard Carroll) concerns a boy who discovers a secret garden. The film was based on the novel Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, and filmed at Chenies Manor House in Buckinghamshire. The film was produced by Hyperion Pictures.

Plot

When Tom Long's brother Peter gets measles he is sent to stay with his Uncle Alan and Aunt Gwen in a flat with no garden. An elderly and reclusive landlady, Mrs Bartholomew, lives upstairs. Because he may be infectious he is not allowed out to play, and feels lonely. Without exercise he is less sleepy at night and when he hears the communal grandfather clock strangely strike 13, he investigates and finds the small back yard is now a large sunlit garden. Here he meets another lonely child called Hatty, who seems to be the only one who can see him. They have adventures which he gradually realises are taking place in the 19th century. Each night when Tom visits, Hatty is slightly older and Tom begins to wonder about the nature of time and reality. In an attempt to discover what's going on Tom asks Hattie to leave her skates in a hidden place. When he goes back into the future he manages to find them. One night Hatty and Tom go out skating however Hatty begins to fall in love with a boy from her own time named Barty and Tom finds he is invisible to her. The next night Tom is unable to find the garden, running into rubbish bins from the modern day instead. Just before Tom returns home he meets Mrs Bartholomew, who is revealed to be the elderly Hatty.

My Review

This movie had a beautiful plot and inspired a lot of my writing and art. The scenery was perfect and awe-inspiring. This kind of film is where fantasy meets reality. Unfortunately, after watching the movie, I felt a little unfulfilled. Like one of the user comments said, time wasn't spent developing the characters. It's great that they got into the story quickly, but I don't feel they spent enough time setting the mood. I expected this to be a cross between Alice in Wonderland and The Secret Garden because of the description and the setting, so I was really disappointed when I saw that there were very few characters, and the ones that existed were boring. I grew a bit more excited when he met Hattie because I thought that a meaningful relationship twist might develop, but all that happened could be described as a slight crush. They didn't even seem to be very good friends. All in all, though I was extremely satisfied with this movie- until I saw Hattie as an old lady. Ewww! It was disturbing because the whole movie had slightly implied a love for Hattie from Tom, and then she's this old, matronly woman! Also, when Tom saw the tree being cracked by lightning and heard the gasp, the sound effects were horrible, and the timing didn't make any sense. Don't think that I hated this movie, though. It was a very fun film, and I enjoyed watching it. If you're looking to see whether it's worthwhile or not, though, I suggest you save it for a night when you're alone and bored.

Old age and youth meet up in a loving way that is seldom seen in film, and for this alone I give this film a 7. Both Greta Scacchi and James Wilby are underused and Andrew Way gives a moving performance as Tom, and despite the fact he was perhaps too old for the role it did not matter to me. I wish he had continued giving performances in other films of equal value. But what I did dislike was the beginning and the end. I found it dissipated the magic by putting a cosy, and to me a banal ending to the story. Ambiguity about Tom's future as a man went out of the window and as I have not read the book I hope the mistake was not made there. I just need to add that Joan Plowright gave a performance that moved me to tears. How does she do it? Magic?

This is a delightful family film - well acted, well produced and quite touching. You may even feel a little bit of a lump in your throat by the end credits. The film really rests on the shoulders of young Anthony Way. I don't know how much acting he has dome, but he does a credible job here. Fair warning: if you and your kids are more into explosions, cartoon violence and fast action then this is not the movie for you. If you and the family are able to sit still and let the story unfold quietly and gently and slowly draw you in then you will really enjoy this. My family certainly did. 9.4/10