Bridge to Terabithia--not really as marketed

[Dicey Reilly]

So, I am sure you have seen the comercials for this movie,  and you might have taken a peak at the brief synopsis of the movie or have seen the trailer.

I'm not going to go into detail as I have not seen the movie myself, but my daughter just came home from the movie and it is in her words 'the most depressing movie ever.'

And for those of you who are considering taking your children to see it, my daughter is 11 and she came home crying.  It is not something that I would have taken her to if I had been pre-warned on the true plot.  I and she were looking for something Narnia-esque.  This is not that moive.  In fact the previews lead you to believe that Terabithia is a fully realized place were much of the story takes place.  This is not the case.

I'll add a spoiler if people really, really want me too but I hate doing that to people who may just end up seeing the movie later even if they think that they might not originally intend to.

[Rosemary]

Thanks for the warning. We just saw Pan's Labyrinth and were planning to see this, but I think PL was all the depression I can handle for this month.

[Jasyn]

I remember reading the book on which this move is based when I was still in elementary school (or at a level that would have been considered middle school in most places stateside, but we can be funny down here sometimes), which would have made me about the same as Dicey's daughter's age at the time.  I've never re-read it, so many details have since been forgotten... but not all of them.  I'm surprised that I never forgot about the book itself, but it was somehow a special read for me, particularly for something of its nature being used in a 6th grade curriculum.

I saw the preview on TV one afternoon recently, not knowing what the title of the movie was until it flashed across the screen at the end of the preview.  I was actually upset.  I remembered the book being very simple, at times sweet, and yes, emotional.  The trailer left me with a feeling of disgust.  Based on what I had just seen in the trailer, I couldn't believe the book had been Hollywood-ized in the way the marketing was representing it.  The marketing represented almost entirely nothing of what I remembered of the book.

I haven't seen the movie and wasn't planning to after the way I reacted to the trailer, but as strange as it sounds, I'm glad to hear that it turns out to be 'the most depressing movie ever' after all.  That gives me hope that the movie holds truer to its roots than I thought it did.  But I'm still angered by the marketing, now knowing what Dicey has shared here.

If anyone is curious about the movie, I'd recommend the book if it's still possible to obtain a copy.

[Alirrin]

My 9yo daughter saw it with her 16yo cousin.  They reported both crying twice, but loved the movie.  I read the book when I was in college, and bawled.  That said, it remains to this day one of my favorite reads.  It is unfortunate that you didn't have an advanced warning that the movie was so sad, but to have revealed the ending would have ruined it entirely. I am not sure whether I will see it, but I am glad Alex saw it and enjoyed it, and even more glad that it was true to the book.

[Wroethgar]

/agree Jasyn


every word was the exact same way I was feeling