Dallas Film Now.

Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy lead the cast in the family-friendly fantasy-adventure. 

Ah. If only … 

Growing up in a time when there were no handheld electronic devices to capture my attention, I became an avid reader, devouring the books in my parents’ library and then moving on to the nearby public library, where I happily ingested the borrowing limit each week. 

Thus, it’s nearly impossible for me to imagine growing up in an age when everyone’s attention span is divided between one electronic device or the other. Happily, writer Simon Farnaby and director Ben Gregor understand the dilemma for parents today, as well as the challenges faced by young people, as evidenced by The Magic Faraway Tree, adapted from four novels by Enid Blyton. 

First published from 1939 to 1951, obviously the novels were written for a much different reality. Early on, the film establishes itself in a world of fantasy, in that, despite great financial pressures that are placed upon Tim (Andrew Garfield) and Polly (Claire Foy), they bend but do not break when breadwinner Polly quits her well-paying job on ethical grounds and her now-former employer demands the return of their rented home and vehicle. 

House-husband Tim suggests that they fulfill a page from their so-called “dream binder,” created some 15 years before, and move to the country. Renting a farm house, sight unseen, finds the family relocating to a hulking, overgrown barn. Ah, no wonder it was so cheap!

Their full-payment for the property has a looming deadline, so Tim and Polly come up with a plan to grow tomatoes so they can make and sell Tim’s fabulous tomato sauce in large quantities to an eager public. 

Left adrift, their children are bored. Youngest daughter Fran, who has entered a silent phase of childhood, encounters a mysterious stranger as they move onto their new farm, prompting her to investigate further when she receives a written invitation to visit a magic tree or some such. Her adventure, which soon encompasses her siblings, is only beginning. 

Very soon, Fran’s world is opened up, and the same happens with her older sister Beth, a teenager who is always complaining, and Joe, a games-obsessed boy. They experience profound changes, and learn lessons that will change their lives. 

As their parents, Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy as Tim and Polly are wonderfully kind, loving, patient, and supportive of their children, played by Delilah Bennett-Cardy (Beth), Billie Gadsdon (Fran), and Phoenix Laroche (Joe). Nicola Coughlin is cheerful and welcoming as Silky, the mysterious stranger who first notices Fran when the family moves to the area. 

The ensemble cast operates ably, in roles that are not easy to define without spoiling anything, though I can cite the great Jennifer Saunders as Polly’s highly successful, though personally disagreeable grandmother, Rebecca Ferguson as a notable antagonist, and writer Simon Farnaby as a farmer who speaks as though his mouth is full of mud. 

Although it sometimes feels overstuffed with goodness, The Magic Faraway Tree is pinpoint in its sentimentality. Although it is clearly a fantasy, the good-hearted film makes me want to believe in its reality. 

The film opens Friday, August 21, throughout Dallas and Fort Worth, only in movie theaters. Visit the official site for more information.