The Thief Lord (DVD)

Thief of Time

Although the publicity brief on The Thief Lord claims that this exclusive DVD premiere is a “modern-day fairytale in the spellbinding tradition of the Harry Potter series,� I am afraid I must regrettably disagree. The idea to make best-selling author Cornelia Funke’s novel into film was filled with good intentions (as evidenced by the talent assembled to create, produce, and act out the parts) but the result falls painfully flat. That said, however, I must admit that the cast is remarkable and the children who play the roles will almost certainly find further work in the industry. After all, Emma Watson struggled a bit as Hermione Granger in the first Harry Potter picture, but has matured into quite a great little actress. Several of the children in The Thief Lord either over- or underact, but it is hard to tell if that is all their own doing, or a result of how they were directed, or a combination of the two. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have veteran actors like Vanessa Redgrave (Howard’s End), Jim Carter (Ella Enchanted, Shakespeare in Love), and Caroline Goodall (Hook, The Princess Diaries) present to shore things up. The three are a delight to watch just because of the talent they have for their craft.

The Thief Lord targets the 9-14 year old audience and their mothers, but the way it has come out, I would recommend it for the 7-11 age group…perhaps even a little younger. It is very, very “kid friendly,� and would make a good picture to plug in for entertaining the children on a rainy day or while mom has something particular that she must accomplish. But since I work with the 12-14 year old age group every day in a middle school, I feel very confident in saying that this movie will not hold their attention in spite of the fact that Aaron Johnson (Prosper) and Rollo Weeks (Scipio) are two of the hunkiest teen boys to come down the pike in recent history.

The thematic content of the film is pretty straightforward. After their mother dies, Prosper and Bo (Jasper Harris) are separated. Prosper is sent to an orphanage because his aunt and uncle are interested only in raising the younger Bo as their son. Prosper breaks out of the orphanage, kidnaps Bo from his new home, and they both stow away on various means of conveyance until they reach Venice, which was the place that their mother most loved. In Venice, the two boys quickly hook up with Scipio (the thief lord of the title and a boy who turns out not to be an orphan, but an unloved teen) and are drawn into a “family� of orphans who live in an abandoned theater and fence things they steal from the rich to support themselves. So there is this Oliver Twist-esque theme of thievery that runs through the movie, which is interlaced with the theme of family and the importance of staying together at whatever the cost. Fortunately, Scipio is no Fagin, but just an older child who is seeking love and security, too, so except for a few scenes with the fence, Barbarossa, we are spared too many instances of screaming and child abuse.

The most troubling thing about this film is that the issue of stealing, even as a means of survival, is never satisfactorily addressed. The reason that it was so upsetting to me (which could make it a very real issue with other parents) is that there is a growing trend in our culture today (especially among our youth) where ownership is becoming a matter of callous disregard. I have talked to children and teens that pick up bikes in parks, at school, and around town, and ride them wherever they want to, just dumping them when they are done with them. The administrators at the middle school where I work spend most of their day trying to find “borrowed� cell phones, MP3 players, and expensive tennis shoes or items of clothing in order to return them to their proper owners. It seems to me that the moral compass is shifting badly from true north, and that entertainment that addresses such subjects should not (by its silence) condone what is morally wrong by way of situational ethics. Circumstance simply should not dictate (or be portrayed as dictating) what is right or what is wrong. The Thief Lord has some great opportunities to teach some powerful values without ruining the action and flow of the movie or being preachy at all, but abdicates in favor of yet another chase scene.

On the other hand, the strength and importance of the family bond is given some gratuitous support at the end of the movie, but Prosper’s choice to remain Bo’s brother and not become his father (by use of a time machine) too fleetingly passes by and becomes mostly an afterthought.

Twentieth Century Fox has turned out some really excellent home entertainment and is generally pretty family-oriented. Of recent note is the movie Aquamarine, which is so well done that it may be coloring my disappointment over The Thief Lord.