Beautifully Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2004)

I suppose I had initial hesitations about this movie. Considering how another Christmas classic, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, was severely butchered and over-hyped when it made the transition to the big screen, I think many others as well as myself were worried the film could only spoil our memories of Van Alsburg's classic.
Rest assured, this film lives up to and exceeds expectations. First of all there is the look of the film which does a great job of recreating the visual feel of Christ Van Alsburg's book. But more importantly, even though the story had to be expanded, (come on, the book was only about thirty pages, and most of those are filled with pictures,) it fully captures the essence of this holiday classic and adds more to it. The performances are simply wonderful, and the cinematography is beautifully dream-like. I admit there were one or two scenes that were so well done I almost wished I could jump in and join in the fun the characters on screen were having.
Overall this is certainly a film people will be watching every Christmas years from now, and will probably be as equally cherished a holiday classic as the book itself.