Rated G, directed by Chris Colombus, with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Emma Watson (Hermione Grainger), Sir Richard Harris (Professor Dumbledore), John Cleese (Nearly Headless Nick) and Alan Rickman (Professor Snape), running time: 146 minutes.
Chris Colombus took no chances in his film adaptation of the hugely popular Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The result: a film about wizards nearly void of wizardry. Rather than adapting the book to film, the inventive director of Home Alone has simply filmed the book, enslaving himself to all its details now so familiar to millions worldwide. There are few things that bring the story to a personal level or breathe life into it; a broken pair of eyeglasses are taped by someone in the wardrobe department (rather than by Harry himself) and props all seem hewn by the same carpenter. Audiences see the director's hand rather than the story's wizardry.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROTHERS
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