It maybe wasn't a kids movie, but it wasn't really an adults movie either. The whole talking tree thing and the contrived (and frankly somewhat incoherent) ending were pure fantasy. As much as I can like some fantasy it's not exactly the modest adult of mediums for dealing with the issues in this film.

I don't think it fused fantasy with reality all that well. Similar themes and a mixture of reality and fantasy can be found in The Neverending Story, to what I'd consider a higher standard. And there are many non-fantasy films that address similar themes in a much more sophisticated, and dare I say, 'adult' way (The Ratcatcher perhaps being my favourite of those).

A good performance by the kid, some nice animations but not a whole lot of substance.

5/10