The Witch of the West is Dead

When a young girl refuses to go to school, she’s packed off to stay with grandma in the country, to learn about plants, getting along with the slightly rough neighbours, and maybe even…witchcraft. Promising material is turned to twee mush by over-emphatic, saccharine storytelling in this disappointing rites of passage tale, though Parker (Shirley MacLaine’s Japanese-raised daughter) is a distinctive presence in the key role of the wise old girl. The final-half hour might have been moving had the film not blown its chances long before then.