I love the experience of taking my kids to the movies. Not only do we enjoy our time there, but it also provides us for a common experience for us to talk about afterwards. Even when the movie is not great, I usually find it time and money well spent.

That is exactly what I was expecting when my 11 year old daughter, 13 year old son and I decided to see The House with a Clock in Its Walls. I anticipated having some fun with my kids during and after a below average movie. My wife, who was convinced that the movie would be terrible, decided to sit this one out.

For the first forty-five minutes of this movie, it seemed both my wife and I were right. The House with a Clock in Its Walls begins as a silly yet creepy pedestrian movie filled with special effects, a typical over-the-top Jack Black performance, and fart jokes.

Then something quite unexpected happened. Half way through the movie, The House with a Clock in Its Walls discovered it also had a heart in there as well.

It is important to note that I have not read the novel written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey on which the movie was based. From the pace of the movie, I am guessing that much of the story from the book was left out of the movie. However, unlike many movies based on books, this one did not seem incomplete. Although it seemed that some characters were merely "glossed over", the audience was still able to get enough flavor of the characters' relationships.

Without providing any spoilers, the movie tells the story of a 10 year old boy named Lewis whose parents have died in a car crash. The boy, portrayed quite well by Owen Vaccaro, moves to Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan who is portrayed by Jack Black. Jonathan happens to be a Warlock. His neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman, used to be a very powerful witch. If it sounds like I presented that in an over-simplistic matter-of-fact way... it's because I did. In the movie, it does not seem like a big deal at all that two magic users are living in a town in 1955 Michigan.

While living with his uncle, Lewis begins to learn magic, attempts to make friends, and gets into some trouble. See... quite pedestrian.

The movie changed as soon as the audience begins to learn more about Mrs. Zimmerman, portrayed by Kate Blanchett. These revelations, and Blanchett's incredible performance, magically transformed the entire movie for me. Blanchett is moving up my list of favorite actresses of all time. She can pull off drama, action and comedy. Sometimes she can put all three of those together. That is exactly what she did in this movie.

Blanchett's performance made this movie. Although the idea of her portraying a "hag" is preposterous. (She was the smoking hot Hela last year.)

This movie was funny and exciting. It was also very creepy. There are many dolls and images that simply "creep you out". There is a reason I am over-using the word "creepy". It is because "creepy" is very different than "scary". My 11 year old daughter can handle "creepy". She (nor I) can handle "scary". My daughter reported that she was not scared after the movie... which is nice. I do think the movie would be a bit too scary for kids under 8.

But back to the heart. This movie contained one of the most subtle yet moving moments I have seen in a movie for quite some time. In fact, I know both of my children and most of the audience missed it. Luckily I did not... and it made me cry. Again without spoiling anything, there is a moment where a character's crystal suddenly glows. That's it. A once dormant crystal glows... and it is beautiful. If you see this movie, be on the lookout for that moment and see if you can figure out why it changes. Then try not to cry.

My 13 year old son said the movie was "pretty good".

My 11 year old daughter liked it quite a bit.

By the end, I loved it (probably because I am a huge sap).

If you have not seen this with your kids yet, now is the perfect time. It is just scary enough to qualify as a "Halloween movie". I anticipate it will play on some cable channel every Halloween for the next 25 years or so. But it is worth the time to see it now.

Geeky Dad's Movie Guide

Number of times I fell asleep: 0
Number of eye rolls: 2 (The movie does not start off great)
Number of face palms: 0
Number of times I checked steemit: 0
Number of times I said "That's ridiculous": 0 (Suspension of disbelief still turned up to 11)
Did my kids like it: 13 year old liked it. 11 year old daughter close to loved it.
Would I see it without my kids: Yes! (But I am a HUGE sap)
Full price/Matinee/Rental/Free/Not worth the time: Matinee

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