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    		•

    FILMS

    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
  • Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Ian Hart, John Hurt, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Sean Biggerstaff, Warwick Davis

  • Directed by Chris Columbus

  • Based on the book by J.K. Rowling

    • Not having read J.K. Rowling's books, I was unaware of any details of this film. I had it on good authority from friends (not to mention the kazillion copies sold) that it was, indeed, a good story. One worth reading. Or in this case, watching. But whether it is faithful to the book series or not I cannot say.

    Regardless, the high praise that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has received over the past few years is definitely merited.

    A story of a young boy not realizing his true identity is as old as the Arthurian legends and as recent as Star Wars. I think there's good reason that we, as a group of story-tellers and story-listeners, come back to this theme time and time again. It's a good idea. And there's no sense in shelving those good ideas. Also, I believe there's a little something inside of everyone that secretly wishes that one day we'd wake up and we'd all be heirs to the crown of England or Jedi Knights or, in this case, the son of very powerful wizards. Everyone wishes that their lives were somewhat more magical or mysterious.

    Harry Potter is orphaned as a baby and is forced to live with his wicked aunt and uncle. Eventually he's called to Hogwart's School of Wizardry (to which his relatives vehemently object). But, they're just silly old muggles and Harry is off to learn his heredity. The plot is simple and easy, and quite frankly, it's not really why we're here. We want to experience magic, for the first time, just as Harry is experiencing it.

    Much of this film is based around completely submersing the audience in the mysteriousness and the wondrousness that magic has to offer. Around every corner there are ghosts and monsters and magic mirrors and traps. Strange people doing strange things. There's also deception and intrigue and downright silliness. There's grade-school arguments and competitions and, all in all, Harry Potter is not terribly different from any other "coming of age" story that I remember reading as a child from authors like Judy Blume or Roald Dahl.

    When people talk about the special effects of this film, they invariably speak of the "quiddich match." Quiddich is more or less like hockey. Except on broomsticks. And in three dimensions. And it's scored differently. And, it's nothing like hockey. This scene didn't wow me as much as it might have others. I was more interested in getting back inside Hogwart's and wandering the halls with Harry and Ronald and Hermione. But, that's not where the story went, so I was more than happy enough to stay at the match. It's not that the special effects were bad or overly-done, but rather I found the little things in this film far more entertaining than what was obviously the Big FX moment in the film.

    I must congratulate the three main characters for their performances. As a rule, I hate watching movies or television with children actors in it. Mostly because, more often than not, they're given cute lines and directed to deliver them cutely. Bah. Boring. If I want cute, I'll go buy a puppy.

    But these three did an outstanding job, performing like real professionals despite the fact that for all three, these were their first roles. They'd never acted before. So, my hat's off to them. I could name a few actors that have been trying to do it their whole life and yet still deliver their lines in a way that makes me think they're trying to sell me a used car.

    I'm afraid I'll sound too much like an advert for the movie if I say this, but I'm going to anyway: It really is a movie that both kids and adults will love. It's scary and funny and sincere.

    And now I'm quite interested in reading the books. So, kudos should go to Rowling, too. For many, many reasons. The least of which is she has helped an entire generation of children understand that reading can be fun. For that, we should be eternally grateful.

    Addendum: I have read the first book now, since writing this initial review. I must say that the adaptation was incredibly close. Of course, some things had to be tweaked and altered and cut to make it fit on the large screen, but overall I was pleased.