> The Secret of Moonacre
Director: Gabor Csupo
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Dakota Blue Richards, Juliet Stevenson, Natascha McElhone, Tim Curry, Augustus Prew, Michael Webber, Andy Linden
Rating: (PG)
3 stars (out of 5)
Review by Christine Powley
First published in 1946, Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse has bewitched young girls ever since. Which is the first puzzle about the film The Secret of Moonacre (Rialto) - why change the title?
Anyway, after throwing away the brand recognition, the film-makers have gone for broke in re-creating the magic-strewn Moonacre valley. Production designers normally get buried in the credits. Here Sophie Becher provides the main reason to see this film.
When orphaned Maria Merryweather (Dakota Blue Richards) is taken from her life in London to live in Moonacre Manor with her grumpy uncle Sir Benjamin (Ioan Gruffudd), she is dazzled by her surroundings, and we are too.
The manor is run-down but beautiful, and Maria sleeps in a room at the top of a tower with a door so tiny only a child can enter. Along the edge of the valley is a forest that her uncle forbids her to enter.
Maria is full of questions her uncle is loath to answer. This is the classic set-up for adventure and naturally Maria soon learns that the valley is in danger. Only she can save it, and she has only until the next full moon to do so.
If only I could get more enthusiastic, but the pacing of this adventure is slow and the acting almost uniformly uninspired.
Best thing: The look of the thing is stunning. Every girl will want a room just like Maria's.
Worst thing: Maybe the sets overwhelmed the actors, but standing around with your gob open does not make for enchanting viewing.
See it with: The desire to escape to a much more elegantly designed world for a short time.
