Tuck Everlasting
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: October 11, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleC.W. Nevius
Perhaps the best teen date movie ever set in the year 1914, "Tuck" represents a brave leap against the tide. No sex, no car crashes and minimal violence. It just might be a hit. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Tuck Everlasting is a wise and beautiful poem to the idea that the fundamental human tragedy is not death, but the unlived life. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A sweeping romantic fable about love and mortality, targets an audience of girls in their early teens, but has been made with such skill and sensitivity that its appeal spans generations. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Not a typical Disney family film -- thank god. Charming and thought-provoking, this is the kind of movie with the sweetness necessary to appeal to younger (although not too young) viewers and the philosophical richness to draw in veteran movie-goers. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
A dreamy adaptation of Natalie Babbitt's cherished 1975 children's novel. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDave Kehr
An effective, well-made film that will certainly please its target audience of preteen girls. Read full review
80
VarietyRobert Koehler
Disney's tradition of intelligent, live-action family period cinema is magnificently revived in Tuck Everlasting. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Carefully walks the fine line between paying homage to a classic and entertaining a modern audience. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldKeith Cassidy
The magic of the film lies not in the mysterious spring but in the richness of its performances. The producers have assembled a cast with three Academy Award winners. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Solid family entertainment, a handsomely crafted and well-acted new film version of Natalie Babbitt's classic 1975 children's book. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's handsomely shot, acted with fervor and reasonably subtle in delivering its message: Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Sweet, family-friendly and philosophically complex, Tuck Everlasting is an unexpected delight. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Charming has devolved into almost a pejorative these days, but Tuck Everlasting is the sort of film that could change that.
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
These actors offset the modern-day ordinariness of the leads -- Jackson, especially, seems as if he's just driven over from a mall tour -- and so, ultimately, does the exquisite moral dilemma of Tuck Everlasting. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Best of all, Ben Kingsley as the menacing man in the yellow suit, brings the picture pungently to life every time he flashes his enigmatic smile. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Smart, curious and brave. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Depends on the magical for the inner workings of its story, and that might not suit viewers desirous of more concrete explanations. But, again, the movie seems just right for the viewers it aims to please. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The sentiment smacks of "Titanic" for teens, but that doesn't make it any less valid, or the quietly told coda any less lovely. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Although bright, well-acted and thought-provoking, Tuck Everlasting suffers from a laconic pace and a lack of traditional action. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Unfortunately, Russell paces the film as if trying to demonstrate what eternity feels like. When the plot begs to move forward, the film keeps lingering over friendly fawns and long walks through the forest. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The acting is occasionally creakily theatrical; as is the script. But some important things come through. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineFrank Lovece
Occasionally marred by purple narration; it's also a mite sloppy in terms of time-passage and geography. Yet its mythic characters feel like genuine, hurting human beings. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Director Jay Russell (My Dog Skip) paces everything so slowly, and the story is so devoid of genuine conflict, that this seems to go on for an eternity. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is too impressed with its own solemn insights to work up much entertainment value; is too much fable to be convincing as life. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Rather than sparkle and dance, it plods. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A neo-vampire movie for tender-hearted preadolescent girls who are afraid of sex. If that's your thing, go for it. But there's something genuinely creepy, and not in the good way. Read full review
40
Village VoiceEd Park
Bledel, consigned to corsets and croquet, looks so weepy for much of Tuck Everlasting. The reason might lie in a script that favors the starchy demands of period melodrama over her TV show's fizzy screwball banter -- or maybe it's just William Hurt's embarrassing brogue. Read full review
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