For anyone who has ever dreamed of running away from it all
1993-04-02
$6.5M
108 min
Mischievous Huck Finn is unnerved when his father, reemerging after years away, kidnaps him in an attempt to take away a $600 inheritance from his late mother. Fearing for his life, Huck fakes his own death and escapes. He soon runs into his friend, Jim, a slave fleeing his master. Together, the pair embarks on a raft journey down the Mississippi River, staying ahead of pursuers who blame the slave for Huck's alleged murder.
A pretty mad film.
First off, I did enjoy <em>'The Adventures of Huck Finn'</em>. The main reason for that is Elijah Wood, who is honestly tremendous in the role of Huckleberry Finn. I've only, as of recently, seen Wood in his adult years, this is the best performance I've seen from him; I'm yet to watch <em>'The Lord of the Rings'</em>, admittedly.
Away from Wood, there are a few other strong cast members. Courtney B. Vance is impressive as Jim, while Jason Robards (The King) and Robbie Coltrane (The Duke) are a good double act. I very much like the cast.
Onto the story. It's kinda bonkers. It goes from being sombre, to being funny, to being serious, back to sombre, back to funny etc. It's very up and down in that sense, the first and third acts are rather heavy but the middle act is as silly as it could possibly be really. It has a very mixed feel about it, amidst the overall arc of slavery.
There is definitely a positive message in there, particularly with Finn and Jim. It's just muddled in with comedy, somewhat oddly. All that matters, though, is did I feel entertained by it? Yes, quite easily so. A film to watch, certainly.
Worth noting I am the opposite of book smart (aim to change that at some point!), despite knowing the name of the title character I've never read the book by Mark Twain. Therefore I couldn't tell you if it does Twain's work justice, or how it relates to it.
