Review: ‘The BFG’ may be one of the truest live action adaptations of a children’s book

Posted on July 8, 2016

By MARK VIOLA

It’s somewhat hard to describe my surprise upon leaving Steven Spielberg’s live action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book “The BFG” when I realized that I had just seen one of the truest adaptations of a children’s book into a live action film. Now I have to say up front I have never read the book in question, and had to look up a plot synopsis online after the fact to gauge just how closely the book kept to its story, and to the best that I can tell with those limitations, “The BFG” stayed very true indeed, with a few minor exceptions at the very end.

And by staying true to the story, the film has the whimsical feel that many children’s books have, along with the break-neck story turns and seemingly out-of-the-blue resolutions.

And that leaves us with an important question. Does a true adaptation of a children’s book that retains the feel and look of a children’s book, make a good movie?

Well, it is a fine kid’s movie with an almost fairy tale quality to it that survives the fact that it is a big-budget summer release. And as that, I’m sure it will entertain children as well as fans of the book.

On the other hand, it is not the instant classic that I was honestly expecting with Spielberg making his first partnership with Disney, not to mention re-teaming with screenwriter Melissa Mathison, who penned 1982’s “E.T.” (Sadly, Mathison died last November from cancer.)

And that is because, despite the credit I have to give Spielberg and his crew in delivering a true children’s book in movie form, I can’t excuse all of the resulting problems.

The story follows a young girl named Sophie (newcomer Ruby Barnhill) who lives in an orphanage in London. Late one night she sees a giant who takes her away to Giant Country so she won’t tell anyone about his existence. Fortunately for her, he is a friendly giant, spending his time collecting dreams and delivering them to the children of the world.

But there are even bigger giants living in this world, and they like nothing better than to eat human beings, especially children. As the friendship grows between Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant (as she takes to calling him), the chances that she’ll be discovered by the other giants only increase.

As usual, Spielberg gets strong performances from his cast, especially Barnhill, who shines in her first ever role, and Rylance, who won the Academy Award for his work in Spielberg’s “Bridge of Spies.” There is a wonderful friendly chemistry between the two on screen, which is all the more remarkable considering one of them is a computer-generated creation and they were often filming on different sets due to the massive size difference between the two characters.

This is a Spielberg production, so you be sure it scores high marks on the technical side, from the cinematography to the music. That being said, the special effects varied greatly at times in their quality, fluctuating from beautiful to simply passable.

Where the movie failed to truly grab me, however, is in the script, and this is not really a hit on Methison’s work, because I was engaged with the characters and their story. Instead, it has to do with the fact that children’s books often take liberties with the standard rules to which we typically hold other literature.

This is most evident in the third act. Up until then, the story of Sophie and the BFG was a sweet story about their friendship mixed with the intriguing fantasy element of his dream blowing. Then, without giving away spoilers, the story takes a very sudden turn toward a different direction. This is coupled with an extended sequence that provides some laughs but otherwise saps away all of the momentum we had built over the previous 80 minutes or so of film.

The story tries to regain that momentum in the final 20 minutes, but never seems to develop the same level of connection we had before.

As I said before, I’m sure children, especially those who have read the book, will enjoy this movie. But while it might be one of the truest adaptations of a children’s book we’ve had, it might also be an example of why we don’t get them terribly often.

The movie is rated PG for action/peril, some scary moments and brief rude humor.

(This is a abbreviated version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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