Pure Enjoyment

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2000)

You know a movie has grabbed you - really grabbed you - when you have tears in your eyes that turn into a mad grin of joy that makes you want to pump your fist into the air and scream "yes!" This movie is a spectacle of riches, from Cold-War parable to coming-of-age fable to a simple meditation on what it means to be a friend. You even have one of the best, thoughtful, explications on what it is to a sentient being. A lovely, enjoyable, fantabulous film that anyone - even a hardened cynic like me - can enjoy.
My only question is - Ted Hughes wrote the original novel? Ted Hughes, the guy who was married to Sylvia Plath when she committed suicide? I always thought he was a jerk. After seeing this movie, I guess I was wrong. I just hope he had the chance to see what a masterpiece they made out of his work before he died in 1999.
Kudos to the voice work in this movie, by the way. Great work by the kid and by Harry Conick, Jr - everytime I heard that voice I wanted to say "daddy-o."