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Title: should've been better
Review: Not a travesty, but a rather pedestrian filming of a terrific Alice Hoffman novel. There are some good elements: the cast is engaging enough, the cinematography is lovely in a Wiccan-Martha Stewarty way, and it's hard to fault any movie that includes Nick Drake's haunting "Black-eyed Dog" on its soundtrack. But the film dumbs down both the plot and the atmosphere, spelling out the story so one can practically figure out the ending from the opening credits, and replacing the book's mystery and wonder with sub-Spielberg gee-whiz effects. I admit that I enjoyed the film when I first saw it, and still have affection for it, but much of that I would attribute to knowing, via the book, what was really happening that the filmmakers were at a loss to convey. Too bad, I'd much rather get those feelings from the film itself. Perhaps a remake will eventually happen, with someone like Alfonso Cuarón at the helm.
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