Steven Spielberg’s Hook finds comic pleasure in Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins, but its crowded Neverland wears us down. Maggie Smith brings warmth; the 142-minute film needs more than good company to justify the length.
Steven Spielberg’s Hook is a family adventure with enough comic talent to keep it agreeable in patches, but its elaborate Neverland grows tiresome. Its version of the Peter Pan story keeps presenting things to look at without making Neverland somewhere we want to explore. There are pleasures here, particularly Dustin Hoffman’s Captain Hook and Bob Hoskins’s Smee. They arrive between long stretches in which the film seems determined to demonstrate how much entertainment it can accommodate.
Hoffman plays Hook with a comic self-importance that gives Hoskins something useful to puncture. Their scenes have the pleasure of watching two actors judge exactly how much fuss the other can tolerate. We laughed at them together, because Hoskins makes the captain’s grand manner look sillier without competing for attention. These are the passages we would happily have had more of, especially when the surrounding adventure begins to drag.
Maggie Smith’s Granny Wendy supplies a quieter pleasure. Smith gives the part an affection that does not need to be underlined, and her performance makes the noisy business around her feel less necessary. Robin Williams has moments of wit as Peter Banning, but the slapstick gives him less room than the casting promises. Julia Roberts’s Tinkerbell has charm, though neither performer provides a steady enough reason to care about the next bout of activity.
Norman Garwood’s production design is central to the problem. Neverland is so crowded with scenery that it is hard to look beyond the construction, and Dean Cundey’s cinematography cannot persuade us to forget we are looking at sets. There is skill in making all this legible, but the eye has little opportunity to rest. The elaborate surroundings keep drawing attention away from the performers, who already have enough work to do.
John Williams’s music makes a more persuasive appeal to the imagination, giving the adventure a warmth that the crowded images struggle to supply. It is a considerable help, though a score cannot make repetitive sword fights surprising. Michael Kahn’s editing leaves those passages too much space, and the 142-minute running time becomes a practical problem for a film offering so much bustle. The pace stays busy without giving us the sense that much has changed.
James V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo’s screenplay has difficulty balancing the comic business with the invitation to take Peter Pan seriously. Hook and Smee can sustain a scene through performance alone, but that does not give the whole adventure enough variety. The Lost Boys add to the commotion without becoming equally engaging company. Spielberg lets too many stretches continue after their chief pleasure has been exhausted, particularly when another sword fight is supposed to hold our attention.
A family fantasy needs to make us curious about its unfamiliar places, and this Neverland seldom does. Hook keeps supplying more activity when a little quiet or danger might have served it better. Smith suggests how effective a gentler film could have been, simply by making Granny Wendy worth listening to. Come for Hook and Smee only if a few good comic exchanges will cover the cost of a long evening.
