accessAtlanta

Verdict: More so-so than must-see.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Any kid-movie alternative to the current hit "Kangaroo Jack" would be welcome, but "Children on Their Birthdays" may be a little too alternative. This kind-hearted, low-key picture makes "Pollyanna" look cutting edge.

It's based on a Truman Capote short story, and that should be a clue right there. Capote might've written stuff with kids in it, but he never wrote kids' stuff. To see his story only in terms of its young protagonists is limiting and may be the reason the film never takes off. The movie version is like a bedtime story — pleasant but a little soporific.

Set in the small Alabama town of Medda in 1947, "Children on Their Birthdays" is about what happens when a pretty and precocious teenager named Lily Jane (Tania Raymonde) moves to town with her mute mother (Phyllis Frelich, who originated the Marlee Matlin role in "Children of a Lesser God"). Our protagonist is 13-year-old Billy Bob (Joe Pichler), who lives with his mother (Sheryl Lee), a war widow.

Billy Bob intends to spend the long, lazy summer hanging out with his best friend, Preacher (Jesse Plemons), but Lily Jane changes all that. Smitten with her, the boys become rivals instead of friends. At the same time, the town is being given the once-over by a con man named Quince (Tom Arnold), who plans to make some bucks off the locals.

One thing the film does well is deal with the dream of the post-World War II South and its concurrent nightmare. Medda is full of beautiful old homes, bucolic fields and gracious people who'd do just about anything for you.

If, that is, you're white. No one runs around in a sheet and white hood, but segregation is still de facto. Lily Jane decides to change that, too. She single-handedly integrates the town church by bringing her friend Sister Rosalba (Brazhal Brewer), to sit with her on the main floor. (African-Americans are supposed to stay in the balcony.) That so few people walk out and the minister is so understanding may be wishful thinking more than anything that could've actually taken place at that time, but it's a wish worth making.

The two boys are appealingly natural and, while it's strange to think of Laura Palmer having moved from Twin Peaks to Medda, Lee is still effective. Tom Arnold is still unwatchable.

Raymonde, who's making her feature debut, is an oddity. A very pretty girl, she's been asked to act like an eighth-grade Blanche Dubois; I'm not sure how well any adolescent actor could pull that off. Or would want to; underage sashaying can be unnerving. But she does get to explain the title, telling Billy Bob that she wants to go somewhere "where everything is dancing, like people dancing in the streets, and everything is pretty, like children on their birthdays." (That's so Truman Capote.)

"Children on Their Birthdays" is the sort of movie you want to be good, because it could show Hollywood that kids' movies don't have to be monstrosities like "Scooby-Doo." But it's sooo slow, and the conflicts are overstated. Meaning, it's only pretty good.

Where's the sequel to "My Dog Skip" when we need it?