n the wake of the enormous, runaway success of the “Harry Potter” movies, Hollywood scooped up every young adult fantasy book series it could find. Granted, audiences didn’t flock to “Inkheart,” “Eragon” or “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” at the turn of the century, but maybe if we knew in advance that they were less problematic options for audiences who like magic and monsters but don’t like transphobia, we would have given more of them a chance. “Inkheart” was kinda fun. Surely we could have made something out of “Inkheart?”
And yet, there’s always more grist for the mill. Enid Blyton’s “Faraway Tree” books were written from 1939 to 1951, and yet somehow nobody made a feature film version until just this year. Ben Gregor’s endearing and innocent adaptation lacks the intensity of many late-era young adult fantasy adventures — these children are trying to save their father’s tomato farm, not the whole world — but it’s a refreshing change of pace. “The Magic Faraway Tree” is a welcoming, silly motion picture for children who haven’t grown too cynical for whimsy, or are just cynical enough that they can be pulled back from the brink.
And yes, granted, some of Blyton’s books have been accused of racism and xenophobia. But you won’t find those ills in Gregor’s film. (She also passed away almost 60 years ago, so she couldn’t use her profits to promote new, bigoted legislation even if she wanted to.)
Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy star as Tim and Polly Thompson. Polly invented a high-tech refrigerator but quit her job as soon as she discovered the corporation was using it to spy on its customers. Tim’s a stay-at-home dad who makes a fabulous spaghetti sauce. Together, they decide it’s finally time to pursue one of their early, forgotten dreams: move to the country, grow tomatoes and unplug from the modern world.
Unfortunately, their three children — Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche) and Fran (Billie Gadsdon) — are so plugged-in they’re practically in the pods from “The Matrix.” Moving to the country means Beth won’t have Wi-Fi, Joe can’t play video games, and Fran … actually, Fran may be all right. She’s not so much addicted to technology as she is overwhelmed by it. She hasn’t even spoken in ages, so a change of scenery might be just what she needs.
The Thompsons move to a ramshackle farm, Beth and Joe submit their applications for The World’s Whiniest Kid competition, and Fran starts exploring the forbidden woods behind their house. A chance encounter with a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan) endears her to the local magical community. Now she’s invited to their gigantic treehouse home. Silky and her friends Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns) and many others also invite her to the top of the Faraway Tree — the “magic” part is implied — which connects to a different fantasy world every day.
There’s one world made entirely of candy and another where every day is your birthday and birthday wishes always come true. There’s also an evil one, presumably just for variety. That’s the domain of Dame Snap (Rebecca Ferguson), a despicably stern schoolteacher who laments that she can no longer hit her students — a reference to Blyton’s books, which were rewritten over the decades to tone down the corporal punishment.
“The Magic Faraway Tree” is a noticeably cheaper production than most of its blockbuster (and would-be blockbuster) YA fantasy counterparts. That’s not a dig, because it adds to the charm. A lot of the costumes and sets look hand-crafted by artisans with distinct personalities. The production quality sometimes sags a little, but it’s reminiscent of a time when audiences were expected to bring their own imaginations to the theater. When visual effects evolved to the point where they could make anything look realistic, they arguably made “realism” too much of a priority. It’s not a flaw that parts of “The Magic Faraway Tree” have the aesthetics of an expensive stage play or a TV movie — it’s a polite entreaty to join the filmmakers in their flights of fancy, not just sit back and let wonderment happen to you.
Garfield and Foy are lovable parents, the type that kids would certainly want to have if their actual guardians are underwhelming (or worse). The young cast also acquits themselves admirably. Gadsdon believably embraces the silliness that surrounds her, and Laroche has slightly less to do but plays an uncomplicated child convincingly.
Meanwhile, poor Bennett-Cardy has the thankless role of the child who believes in nothing and cares only about herself. Her character grows up — which in this context means embracing childishness — but until then, she’s a thorn in everyone’s side. It’s literally Bennett-Cardy’s job to make her character annoying, so if she succeeds, her reward is an annoyed audience. So let’s all take a moment and appreciate what a tough job she has and how willing she is to throw herself into it.
The plot of “The Magic Faraway Tree” is backloaded, so almost all the drama and suspense is in the last third of the film. That speaks volumes about this movie’s priorities and what the audience is expected to value by the time the story concludes. Gregor has directed a tender ode to idle imagination, which only dips into stressful territory when it’s necessary to learn a valuable lesson about why we shouldn’t be so eager to dip into stressful territory. It’s slight, it’s bright, and it’s a welcome addition to a cinematic genre in desperate need of positive, life-affirming alternatives.
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