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'Tom & Thomas'. Real life fairytale
After the success of 'Long live the Queen', Esmee Lammers has again made a family film starring a child. The scenario of 'Tom & Thomas' is also from her hand, as is the book with the same title, which she wrote with Han Kuyper. This time it was decided to make an English language film. Happily the actors were cast from England, so we don't see Lou Landre [local celebrity] as a security official with a gruesome accent. And of course we have Derek de Lint as the director of the orphanage, and Debby, a classmate of Thomas, who doesn't say a word and so escapes the suspicion of a Dutch background.
The story is set in London where Thomas lives with this foster father Paul (Sean Bean). He has a difficult time at school as he keeps seeing images of his 'imaginary friend' Tom. This Tom lives in an orphanage. He has witnessed child smuggling practices and is consequently chased by the smugglers. Thomas does not only see the images, he feels everything Tom feels, which is a lot, as Tom is regularly whipped. Nobody believes Thomas as he tells of Tom and the people around him are getting tired of it.
Thomas has one passion: space and in particular the first landing on the moon. He persuades Paul to take him to the Science Museum for his ninth birthday. In the maze of mirrors Thomas is suddenly faced with a real life Tom!
Once they have found each other they really do not want to let the other go. But Paul can not find out about Tom's existence as they fear he will not believe it and send Tom back to the home. As Tom is still running from the smugglers, he hides in Thomas's room. They change places several times, which leads to comical situations and misunderstandings.
Thomas cannot resist going to the orphanage and he gets caught and is mistaken for Tom. Soon Thomas is in a plane like a caged animal, on his way to Africa.
Tom and Thomas is an okay movie, with some exciting moments. Sean Bean, who currently also stars as Boromir in 'The Fellowship of the Ring', is perfect as Paul, the awkward father of Thomas. The title role is performed by Aaron Johnson, who plays both Tom and Thomas by means of 'splitscreen' and 'greenscreen'. Especially the scene in the mirror maze was excellently done, as nobody of the crew could be seen in the mirrors. Johnson, who had theatre and television productions to his credit, was also in the race to be Harry Potter, but lost out in the last round.
It's a pity the film lasts too long. We have to wait very long for the boys to actually meet. In the beginning of the movie the switch from Tom to Thomas and back is made often, which causes some confusion. Lammers did try to separate the boys' worlds, by making Tom's world ashen and characterising Thomas's world with yellow and red colours. The school Thomas attends has bright colours, with the children dressed in equally bright colours, although most schools in England still use uniforms.
Tom and Thomas is a nice successor to 'Long Live the Queen' but will certainly not surpass it.
Review from Movieguide.nl
