Tom and Huck

Not to be confused with the 1918 film Huck and Tom.
Tom and Huck

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Hewitt
Produced by Laurence Mark
Stephen Sommers
Screenplay by Stephen Sommers
David Loughery
Story by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
Starring
Music by Stephen Endelman
Cinematography Bobby Bukowski
Edited by David Freeman
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
  • December 22, 1995 (1995-12-22)
Running time
 92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $23,920,048[1]

Tom and Huck is a 1995 American adventure comedy-drama film based on Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Mike McShane, and Amy Wright. The film was directed by Peter Hewitt and produced/co-written by Stephen Sommers (who also worked on another Disney adaptation of Twain's work, 1993's The Adventures of Huck Finn). The movie was released in the U.S. and Canada on December 22, 1995.[1]

In the film, mischievous young Tom Sawyer witnesses a murder by a vicious half-Native American criminal known as "Injun Joe". Tom befriends Huck Finn, a boy with no future and no family, and is forced to choose between honoring a friendship or honoring an oath, when the town drunk is accused of the murder.

Plot summary

The movie opens with Injun Joe (Eric Schweig) accepting a job position from Doctor Jonas Robinson (William Newman). Tom Sawyer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is then seen running away from home. He and his friends ride down the Mississippi River on a raft, but hit a sharp rock, which throws Tom into the water. His friends find him washed up on the shore, and Tom finds it was Huck Finn (Brad Renfro) who carried him to safety. Huck learns of an unusual way to remove warts - by taking a dead cat to the graveyard at night. There they witness Injun Joe and Muff Potter (Mike McShane), the town drunk, digging up the grave of Vic "One-Eyed" Murrell for Doctor Robinson. A treasure map is discovered and when Doc tries to betray the two men, Injun Joe murders him with Muff's knife.

The next morning, Muff is charged for the murder. Unfortunately, Tom and Huck had signed an oath saying that if either of them came forward about it, they would drop dead and rot. The boys embark on a search for Injun Joe's treasure map, so they can declare Muff innocent and still keep their oath. The only problem is, the map is in Injun Joe's pocket. After Injun Joe finds the last treasure, he burns the map and discovers that Tom was a witness to the crime. He finds Tom and threatens he will kill him if he ever tells anyone about the murder. However, at the time, the entire community believed that he was dead, and the friendship between Tom and Huck starts to decline because of the fact that their evidence (the map) to prove Muff innocent, while preserving their oath, is destroyed.

At Muff Potter's trial, Tom decides that his friendship with Muff is more important than his oath with Huck and tells the truth. The court finds Muff innocent of all charges and goes after Injun Joe. As a result, Injun Joe decides to hold up his end of the bargain by killing Tom. When Injun Joe returns to the tavern, he kills his accomplice Emmett (Lanny Flaherty) for cheating him. Huck becomes angry with Tom for breaking their oath and leaves town. During a festival the next day, a group of children, including Tom and his love interest Becky Thatcher (Rachael Leigh Cook), enter the caves where Tom and Becky become lost. They stumble upon Injun Joe (who was looking for Tom) in McDougal's Cave. He traps them, but Tom and Becky manage to escape. Then they find the treasure and Tom tells Becky to go get her father and bring him back.

Just then, Injun Joe finds Tom, and again tries to kill him. But Huck returns to help save Tom, and battles Injun Joe. But Injun Joe easily overpowers Huck; just as he is about to kill him, Tom holds the treasure chest over a chasm. Injun Joe then tries to get the chest from Tom, only to fall into the chasm to his death (with the chest which was empty). The boys reconcile, and are declared heroes by the people. Tom is praised on the front page of the newspaper, and Widow Douglas (Marian Seldes) decides to adopt Huck Finn.

Cast

Reception

Box office

The movie debuted at No.9.[3] In its second week it rose to No.8.[4] The U.S. and Canada box office for Tom and Huck was $23,920,048.[1]

Critical

The movie received mixed to negative reviews,[5][6][7][8] with a 'rotten' 25% on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tom and Huck at Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ Puig, Claudia (1995-12-21). "Little Big Man : Heartthrob and Hot Property at 14, Taylor Has a Veteran's View of Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  3. ↑ Dutka, Elaine (1995-12-27). "Weekend Box Office : 'Exhale' Blows Down the Competition". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  4. ↑ Puig, Claudia (1996-01-03). "Weekend Box Office : A Very Happy New Year's Holiday for 'Toy Story' and 'Jumanji'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  5. ↑ Anderson, John (1995-12-22). "MOVIE REVIEW : A Darker 'Tom and Huck' for a Modern Audience". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  6. ↑ Holden, Stephen (1995-12-22). "FILM REVIEW;Tom Sawyer as Gable". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  7. ↑ Stack, Peter (1995-12-22). "FILM REVIEW -- A Likable Tom and Huck, With an Eerily '90s Twist". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  8. ↑ Petrakis, John (1995-12-22). "`Tom And Huck' A Silly Take On Twain's Classic Tale". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  9. ↑ Tom and Huck at Rotten Tomatoes
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