#tomandhuck

Tom and Huck (1995)

Anything good found in Tom and Huck comes from the source material. Mark Twain's writing just barely counterbalances all this film's attempts to bring the classic story to a new generation.

When Tom Sawyer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Huckleberry Finn (Brad Renfro) witness a murder, they keep quiet out of fear for their lives. After the local drunk, Muff Potter (Mike McShane), is wrongfully arrested for the crime, it's up to them to clear his innocence.

It's a testament to Mark Twain's writing, that even though this movie is not great, it's still compelling to watch. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer's adventures capture a universal aspect of youth. That carefree time when you were free to roam and explore a world full of mystery while the bright sun shined overhead. Though set in 1834, there’s something universal about it. You remember someone on your block who was just like the heroes of our story. If you didn’t, you wish you did. It has iconic scenes you could never forget, like when Tom is forced to paint his aunt’s fence and searches for a way to make it easier on himself. This makes Tom and Huck inherently watchable, even quite interesting. Even if you're familiar with the story, you're eager to see what's next.

This brings us to the end of the praises this film deserves. Beyond this, it's a cheap, badly acted quickie which aims to take advantage of young Jonathan Taylor-Thomas' stardom. Tom and Huck doesn't feel like it was made by someone who truly believed in the story, who was compelled to bring it once again to the public's attention. The book's dated language has made it controversial and this has been compounded by the assumption that it's made for children, which it isn't. But you wouldn't know this from watching the film. It’s a property the studio knew you'd be familiar with and nothing else.

The absolute worst thing about this film is the horrendous acting. I understand child stars are harder to find, and even more difficult when the material they're given isn't contemporary but there HAD to be someone better suited than the performers who were selected. The leads fare a bit better than the rest but that's not saying much. Even actors that only have a few lines will make you wince. don’t do a good job and one of the more prominent side characters, Tom’s cousin Courtland Mead is so awful I had to double-check to see if he wasn't some producer’s kid who got the part as a birthday present. Even the adults are lousy. There are two characters who appear drunk and they gave me flashbacks to my days of high school theatre acting. Either these grown men have never been drunk, seen anyone else drunk, heard of what alcohol does to people, or they were deliberately trying to sabotage this film.

If the performances didn't give it away, you can tell this was a quickly made production to cash in on a couple of hot (but evidently not very talented) young names from the look of the thing. It looks like it was made for TV. It can’t be expensive to put together a small village that requires no plumbing, electricity or indoor washrooms can it? Maybe the budget was all spent hiring a half-dozen vocal coaches to teach the crew what a southern drawl sounds like when they kept getting hurt on-set or something. Pick any episodes of a sitcom where someone gets hit on the head and “travels” inside a book. It'll be more convincing than this.

The criticisms it earns are numerous but I must also confess that the poor acting, sets, and overall production never completely turned me away from the film. Against all odds, the story punches through the obstacle. It will never replace any other adaptation (I hope this is as bad as it gets) but if you just happen to own this on VHS, or it’s playing on TV and your kids want to watch it, you can sit through it and leave mildly amused. (Full-screen version on VHS, May 3, 2015)