Starring Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning, Lenny Henry, Rebecca Ferguson, Jennifer Saunders, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale

Directed by Ben Gregor

Neal Street Productions – in Cinemas Now

When Polly loses her job, she relocates her screen-addicted family to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree in an enchanted wood, and with it how to re-engage with the world and their imaginations.

I’ve always loathed Enid Blyton. Even as an early reader I could never get more than a couple of pages into any of her books. Keen not to prejudice my own children I gamely had a go at reading something Famous or Secret to them but to my great relief they were unimpressed – a decision they came to completely un-swayed by the mist descending over my eyes, or the curl of disdain forming around my nostrils.

So I might well have given The Magic Faraway Tree a wide berth had the screenplay not been penned by the excellent Simon Farnaby of Horrible Histories fame and co-writer of Paddington 2. Even then, it would be nigh on impossible to argue that this tale of fairies and pixies and fantasy lands full of sweets isn’t unbearably twee… and that’s before we get to the film’s wholesome family values. Was I seriously watching a movie centred round a ‘Rootin’ Tootin’ Family Song’?

And yet… somehow… it won me over. Twee or not, Farnaby’s warmth shines through, and Ben Gregor directs with an infectious attention to detail and a visual flair that never strays into anything so bubblegum it might sear one’s retina. Added to which Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Dad, Tim, has pitch perfect comic timing that only the sourest of pusses could resist, while Claire Foy offers an anchor to the film allowing us to come up for air just as it’s becoming a bit too cloying.

Elsewhere, Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan as a warm-hearted fairy with self-image issues and Baby Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning as a benevolently psychotic washer woman – along with a whole roster of British talent (and the occasional National Treasure) play it like they mean it. And Farnaby makes a delightful cameo appearance as the local farmer clearly inspired by the unintelligible Gerald from Clarkson’s Farm.

The plot is thin and episodic, playing out exactly as anyone who has ever seen a film before might expect, but somehow manages to be really rather satisfying, even if Rebecca Ferguson’s villainess, Dame Slap, barely has time to make an impression.

Verdict: I can see how The Magic Faraway Tree could easily bring a reluctant parent out in hives, but in a world seemingly hell bent on self-destruction, it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me feel good about being human. 8/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com