'Tuck' makes a better book than feature film

If you could, would you really want to live forever? The very question is so intriguing that it's too bad "Tuck Everlasting" couldn't seize the opportunity to answer it.\nJay Russell directs Disney's latest, a sweeping romance based on the classic American novel by Natalie Babbitt. It tells the story of Winifred "Winnie" Foster (Alexis Bledel) who decides, at the age of 15, that she hates her life. Feeling a little rebellious, she decides to (ooh, here it comes!) leave her front yard and take a hike in the family woods, where she gets a little lost.\nHer stab at adventure introduces her to the immortal Tuck family, and she falls in love with Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson), the younger of two brothers. The Man in the Yellow Suit (Ben Kingsley) adds much of what little suspense can be found in "Tuck Everlasting," as he pursues the family in hopes of gaining information about the source of their immortality. \nThe love story works primarily because Bledel and Jackson look pretty together, but that can't and shouldn't compensate for their obvious lack of enthusiasm. Winnie's parents look like they've never met and act accordingly. The Tuck family, however, is different story -- Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and William Hurt are perfect as the Tuck parents, and Scott Bairstow's consistent look of strained emotion as Miles Tuck makes him the ultimate star of the movie.\nRussell's choice of scenery is breathtaking, and he must be commended for choosing to remain so faithful to the novel. The movie can't really go wrong, since Babbitt's story is, in itself, such an endearing and entertaining tale, but a corny script and some lackluster performances make it a much lesser masterpiece. Take my advice and go read the book. You'd be much better off.