Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Touching Depression Era Story
Comment: This is a quietly touching adult film made by Disney long before they had their Touchstone division. Meredith Salanger gives a star-making performance as a teenage girl growing up with her father during the depression. A young John Cusack has a nice turn as well, already showing the kind of quiet and surprising talent he would become known for in coming years.
Natty's father (Ray Wise) finds the only work he can during the depression and reluctantly leaves Natty with someone who turns out to have no love or compassion in her heart for anyone but herself. He has gone to Washington to cut trees and leaves a letter promising to send for her, along with a locket containing a picture of her dead mother. But when no word arrives she runs away to find him, riding the rails. Ray Wise gives a fine performance as a loving father forced by the depression to leave the daughter he adores in order to support them both and survive.
The great beauty of the Pacific Nortwest is the backdrop for a beautifully filmed and realistic journey of a time and place long gone. It is not the rose-colored journey one might expect from a Disney film, however. The people and places are real and she is met with both kindness and cruelty, including a brief scene when she hitches a ride with a pervert who tries to molest her.
She meets Cusak early on in this film and later when their paths cross again they tramp together, feelings for each other beginning to form. Meanwhile, due to a chain of events which causes her father to believe Natty dead, he is devastated and takes a very dangerous job. A wolf becomes Natty's friend and they travel together, looking out for one another. Though this may sound corny, it is handled in a realistic and believable way.
When Cusak finds work in California she must continue on to find her father. But there are sweet moments when she writes to him and we hope that somewhere down the line they will be together. There are some truly touching scenes which make this memorable, and an excellent film for parents to enjoy with young adults. Sort of forgotten today, this is a really special film I highly recommend.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent family movie
Comment: Great movie that isn't sappy or simplistic. You'll be at the edge of your seat several times, especially at the end.
Customer Rating:
Summary: the journey of nattie gann
Comment: I saw this movie when it first came out- i loved it... i recently purchased it for my grandsons....
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Journey of Natty Gann
Comment: A very good movie about a journey of a little girl who would not give up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A journey of hope and persistence against great odds!
Comment: Set in 1935, the Depression is the main villain in this emotional, coming-of-age adventure tale of a young girl's journey from Chicago to Washington in search of her father. When Natty Gann's father is offered a job as a logger in Washington, he must leave his tomboyish daughter with a friend until he can afford to send for her. Natty's habit of getting into trouble immediately lands her on the road, however, forced to become a rail-rider and having to avoid the law and adults in general, most of whom want to lock her up or worse. Along the way, she teams up with an intelligent and protective wolf that she helps escape from a dogfighting den and a more experienced young drifter seeking work wherever he can find it. Together, the three give each other the support they need to stay the course. Meanwhile, when Natty's father is informed of her wallet being found at the scene of a train wreck, he sinks into despair believing she has been killed and takes on the most dangerous jobs at the logging camp. If Natty doesn't find him in time, he's sure to be the next accidental death.
"The Journey of Natty Gann" is a gem of a film coming from the Disney Studios at a time when their live-action features were thoughtful and low on glitter and plastic. Released in 1985, this was the era of Disney films like "One Magic Christmas," "Never Cry Wolf," and "Flight of the Navigator." Introducing 80's cutie Meredith Salenger in the title role and John Cusack as the fellow drifter she befriends, "The Journey of Natty Gann" does a marvelous job of recreating the world of the Great Depression and truly makes its presence felt throughout the film. The story is touching, beautifully shot, and frequently unpredictable, and the performances are wonderful. You may not like Natty much at the very beginning, but by the end you'll adore her.
The DVD release is another matter. Unfortunately, there's nothing really positive I can say about the release, and forget what I said about this film being beautifully shot when you sit down to watch it. It's got bad picture quality, horrible pan and scan, bad audio, zero extras... For something like that to happen to a movie like this is nothing short of a crime! All I can say is, this is a film everyone should have in their video library, but don't pay too much for this edition of it. It really is just like watching a VHS tape. Let's hope a better edition comes along someday, but I picked this one up just in case. Poor quality is better than not having this charming Disney classic at all.
Oh, and if you like this Disney film, please seek out other Disney live-action classics. Try the ones I mentioned in this review, and also checkout "White Fang," "Iron Will," and "Napoleon and Samantha" among others.
|
