5 Children & It Review

"5 Children & It" is the kind of movie your granny would praise as good, old-fashioned, not to mention 'proper' entertainment. Kids of today, however, might choose to disagree. Adapted from the much-loved children's tale by "The Railway Children" author E. Nesbitt, the period pic finds a group of five little 'uns packed off to the country mansion of their eccentric uncle when their dad goes off to fly planes in World War I and their mum enlists as a nurse. But just when their summer is looking to be a total washout complete with endless chores and an evil cousin who's far too interested in dissection, the pesky kids find a secret passage to a magical, sun-kissed beach and discover an 8,000-year-old sand fairy who promises to grant them one wish every day. And it's a sand fairy, incidentally, that sounds remarkably like Eddie Izzard.

Izzard's enjoyable loopy free association ramblings may raise a chuckle of two from the adults in the audience and Kenneth Brannagh's crackpot uncle isn't entirely unfunny. But it's hard to see what modern kids used to the fast-paced, high-wit content of "Shrek" - or even, dare I say it, "Cat in the Hat" - might make of the generally fusty and ever so didactic tale. The film's major selling point? Young actor Freddie Highmore who may be thigh-high to a grasshopper but even in this sluggish movie makes the movie worth watching. No wonder he's bagged the plum role of Charlie in Tim Burton's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Any out-of-work thespians out there should watch and learn.