2 of 3

Fortunately, director Gabor Csupo—working on his first live-action film, after decades as a producer on cartoons like Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys—doesn't get too carried away with the animated effects. Instead, he mostly keeps the focus where it should be, on Jess's home and school life. Robert Patrick is reasonably gruff but not entirely insensitive as Jess's dad, and Zooey Deschanel is perfectly cast as Miss Edmunds, the semi-hippie-ish music teacher that Jess has a crush on.

The film leaves little to the imagination

The film taps into spiritual themes, too, though not as well as it could have—which becomes a bit of a liability when the story turns tragic. In the book, Leslie is a fan of the Narnia books but doesn't know anything about Jesus until she visits the Easter service at Jess's church; what's more, Leslie is moved to an almost mystical sort of awe in the forest, and so she and Jess "pray" to the "spirits" there, just as they battle giants and the like in their imaginations. There is a sense in the book that Leslie's fantasies are rooted in a deeper sort of longing. But the film leaves most of this out, and could almost give one the impression that churches and stained-glass windows are little more than nice add-ons to an already active imagination.

Despite its flaws, Bridge to Terabithia is a decent adaptation of Paterson's novel, and at times it is quite moving. I say this, incidentally, as a long-time fan of the book who bought a copy with my paper-route money after my teacher read it to our class a quarter-century ago. There are plenty of things the filmmakers could have done differently, but on a certain primal level, this film gets much of the story right.

Talk About It

1. Leslie remarks that Jess and May Belle have to believe in Jesus but don't like the story of his death and resurrection, whereas Leslie doesn't have to believe in Jesus but does like the story. Do you like the story? Do you think you have to? Would you like it more if you didn't think you had to?
2. Leslie, waving her arms at the world in general, says, "I seriously do not think God goes around damning people to hell. He's too busy running all this!" How would you answer Leslie? Does God "go around" condemning people? What would you say to Jess when he says he is worried that someone he knows has gone to hell?
3. A recurring theme in the film is to "close your eyes and keep your mind wide open." How open should a mind be? How do you know if it is too open?
4. How did your attitudes towards the characters change over the course of the film? How do the attitudes of the characters toward each other change? Point to specific examples, such as Leslie's relationship with Janice, or Jess's with May Belle.

The Family Corner

Bridge to Terabithia is rated PG for thematic elements including bullying (a few threatened punches), some peril (imaginary creatures attack the children, someone falls from a tree) and mild language (a few "damns" and the like). A major character dies, but the death is kept completely offscreen; we don't even see the body afterwards. Characters discuss whether God sends people to Hell.

Photos © Copyright Walt Disney Pictures

© Peter T. Chattaway subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Katherine Paterson, like Madeleine L'Engle, is a Christian writer who crafts poignant stories about young people who struggle with serious issues and then make sense of their world through vivid imagination and flourishes of fantasy.

next page... |  2 of 3