Movie – True Grit (2010)

The first thing you should know is that this is not a remake of the 1969 John Wayne movie.  It is a more faithful adaptation of the original book, which was also the basis for the 1969 movie.  This version is a little more serious and has a couple of key differences in the ending (which I won’t be spoiling.)

Movie – The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

This movie stars Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter, Go, John Adams) as a little girl caught up in a great adventure with the famous Baron Munchausen (John Neville.)  Appearing in supporting roles are Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce, and “Ray B. Tutto” who looks, sounds, and acts exactly like Robin Williams.  (It is Williams.)

Movie – The City of Lost Children (1995)

The best way to describe this movie is that it is a dark fairy tale; far more Brothers Grimm than sweet innocent story.  A modern day equivalent might be the stories of Roald Dahl. 

It stars Judith Vittet as brave little street orphan Miette and Ron Perlman as a kind circus strongman named One.  The two of them are opposed by a mad scientist who is kidnapping children to take their dreams from them, since he cannot dream himself.

Movie – The Professional (1994)

The Professional features the screen debut of Natalie Portman.  It’s immediately apparent that she is destined for big things.  She is almost preternaturally mature in this role.  She acted opposite Jean Reno, who also became a star because of this movie.  You may not recognize his name, but you will recognize his face.  He became the go to actor whenever Hollywood needed a Frenchman in their movie (i.e. Godzilla, Mission Impossible, The Da Vinci Code, etc.)

Movie – Whale Rider (2002)

This film is an example of the little movie that could.  Everywhere it was shown at film festivals it won audience awards and left people giving standing ovations.  When it was released to the general public there was no marketing campaign to back it up, so you may not have heard of it.  I never heard of it myself until it came out for home rental.  I’m here to tell you that once you’ve seen this movie, though, you will never forget it.

Movies with Great Child Performances

“Never work with animals or small children.” – Old acting adage

The famous child actor/actress has been a staple of movies from Jackie Coogan and Shirley Temple right up through all the various live action Disney child stars.  There is a big difference between fame and acting ability, though.  The children who can actually act, and not just mug for the camera, are rarer.  It’s for this reason than most child stars struggle to make the transition to adult roles.

I have enough movies in this category that I will revisit it at a later point.  For the present I am going to review Whale Rider (2002), The Professional (1994), The City of Lost Children (1995), and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988.)  The four movies all feature young actresses in early/debut roles.  They range in age from eight to twelve.

Note - True Grit (2010) was later added to this category.

You can find my posts for these movies here:

Whale Rider
The Professional
The City of Lost Children
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
True Grit

On to the reviews…