One of the things that I liked about Tuck Everlasting is that it conceded that in
the coming age secrets like what the Tuck family has would be harder to keep.
And the Tucks have a secret well worth keeping. They were at that time before World War I acknowledging the faster methods of communication and
transportation would make it impossible. In 2002 when the film was released
we are now passed the industrial age and into the age of communication.
You know someone would find out and post it on the web.
The secret of the Tucks is that they've found the secret of immortality in a
spring located deep in the woods where they've settled. The family is parents
William Hurt and Sissy Spacek and sons the brooding Scott Bairstow and the
eternally youthful Jonathan Jackson.
The property however is owned by Victor Garber and Amy Irving and they've
got a daughter Alexis Bledel whom they keep most sheltered. One day she
wonders into the Tuck woods and meets the family. She nearly drinks from
the spring and can't understand why the Tucks warn her away. But she experiences a first love with Jackson and they are a pair of the most romantic
lovers you will ever meet.
It's a regular Garden of Eden the Tucks have, but there's a serpent there and it's
in the form of Ben Kingsley. Kingsley has heard rumors of this fountain of youth and immortality and he's here to find it and exploit it as he feels that
only certain people should enjoy immortality. As the film builds Kingsley grows more evil and more serpentine, he will really creep you out.
This film bears comparison to the Highlander movies and TV series and a bit of
comparison to Sean Connery's science fiction classic Zardoz. All deal with
immortality and what a trap it can be if you think about it. The Tucks have it
better than Duncan McLeod, he can go if he's decapitated. A highland broadsword wouldn't even penetrate the skin of a Tuck.
Tuck Everlasting is really about Bledel and Jackson and a love that can never be. Scott Bairstow has an effective scene about the family he raised who have
all gone and left him alone for an eternity.
Fitting that Tuck Everlasting should be a product of the Disney studios because
the film has an aura of magic and it's fitting it come from the Magic Kingdom.
It's a charming fantasy, you can't do much better with films of fantasy than
this one.
