The Magic Faraway Tree: a ‘sweet-natured family fantasy’ movie

Enid Blyton’s “Magic Faraway Tree” stories have delighted successive generations, said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. And now, they have been adapted for the big screen by Simon Farnaby, whose credits include “Paddington 2”, and who is a master of the art of making films that tickle children and adults alike. And, happily, he and director Ben Gregor have done a “smashing job” – if you will forgive the Blyton-ese – not least by finding a “modern, relatable context” for stories published in the 1940s.

Claire Foy stars as Polly, an electronic engineer who quits her job rather than work on a smart fridge that gathers data on its owners. As a result, she and her affable husband Tim (Andrew Garfield) have to give up their device-filled modern home in the city and move to a ramshackle barn in the country with their three screen-addicted children. The older two initially resist their parents’ appeals to immerse themselves in nature, but the youngest, who is mute, explores the area and finds a magical tree inhabited by a group of extraordinary characters.

This is a “sweet-natured family fantasy”, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, with lots of jokes and peril too, notably in the form of the evil Dame Snap (Rebecca Ferguson with a weird asymmetric hairdo).

I accept that Blyton – with her references to “swarthy foreigners” and the like – needed to be updated, said Kevin Maher in The Times, but Farnaby has created an over-complicated screenplay that strips the tale of its wonder. The children enjoy a few adventures that are “poorly realised” with “a DIY aesthetic”. Then we rush back to find out if Tim has fulfilled his dream of starting a pasta sauce business. Frequently collapsing into “skits” and “awkward flights of fancy”, the film is a “mess”.