Review of Tom & Thomas (2002) by Paul A — 11 Oct 2012

I grew up around Christmas movies; a yearly viewing of Yuletide films ranging from "The Santa Clause" to "The Muppet Christmas Carol" to "Jingle All the Way" to even the little-known "The Christmas Gift" was just as much the tradition around our house as gift exchanging and trimming the tree. Even though it is currently October, I have decided to protest this month and its holiday on the final day by reading books and watching movies that are Christmas-themed, and the first of them is "Tom & Thomas".

So, what did I think of it? It was good...but it wasn't great. The plot was engaging, if fantastical in a way that the DVD's back cover synopsis failed to mention. Everyone in the cast did well, though thick British accents made some dialogue hard to understand, especially since the DVD lacked closed captions and subtitles. The video quality was average, but that's to be expected when you have four movies on one single-sided DVD.

So, my thoughts? If you can catch this on TV, do so; if not, a rental from your local library would be the best option. "Tom & Thomas" isn't destined to be a classic, and will probably be largely forgotten soon, if it hasn't been already, but it's still mildly enjoyable viewing nonetheless.

Content concerns: A scant few profanities, some intense scenes--the worst of which involve lashings and their aftermath and a character being unwillingly sedated--a bit of violence, and a somewhat dark atmosphere make this inappropriate for younger kids. Maybe children under ten would be fine with it, but parents or teachers might want to screen it before showing it to kids.