Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
Director: Frank Oz
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A delightful adaptation of Lynne Reid Banks' children's classic: Omri (Scardino), whose parents (Crouse and Jenkins) are sufficiently well off to afford kids' bedrooms large enough to be film sets, receives an old lock-up cupboard for his ninth birthday, and does swapsy for a plastic model of an 'Indian' with his pal Patrick. After a night in the cupboard, the model becomes Little Bear, an 18th century Onondaga-Iroquois brave (Litefoot). Once Little Bear realises Omri is no 'Great Spirit', they swiftly make friends and explain each other's worlds, until, that is, sole confidant Patrick 'brings to life' a 19th century cowboy (Keith), and their game becomes a matter of life and death. The film's conceit ('you should not do magic you do not understand') is prompted by the heart attack from fear of an old Native American chief, which is typical of the neatly (and lightly) concealed moral thrust of Melissa Mathison's screenplay, which teaches respect for people, knowledge and technology. Fine enlarged production design and effects, and appealing acting from the little and the large.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: Frank Oz
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Jane Startz
Cast: Hal Scardino, Litefoot, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Jenkins, David Keith, Steve Coogan, Sakina Jaffrey full cast
Genre(s): Children's
Duration: 96 mins
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now