TV REVIEWS : Heart-Stealing ‘Borrowers’ on TNT

Where do all those odd socks, coins and pencils go? The culprits may be Borrowers--tiny people who live under floorboards and carry off misplaced items when “human beans” aren’t watching.

Catch them in the act today at 5 and 7 p.m. when TNT presents the first half of an appealing British production of “The Borrowers,” based on Mary Norton’s classic children’s books and hosted by Richard Lewis. (Part 2 airs Sunday at 5 and 7 p.m.)

Lewis’ patter is somewhat obtrusive and the special effects, while respectable, aren’t Spielberg. But the cast is just right, as are the oversize sets and props, and children will enjoy the film’s vantage point: about six inches from the ground.

The diminutive Borrower family--parents Pod (Ian Holm) and Homily (Penelope Wilton) and their young daughter, Arrietty (Rebecca Callard)--live under the kitchen floor of a stately old English house. Pod realizes that age is catching up with him, while Homily’s petty, fractious concerns are causing strife and Arrietty’s inflated pride is waiting to be punctured.

Life changes when a human boy comes to the house and discovers their existence. No sooner have wary Pod, acquisitive Homily and restless Arrietty adjusted to friendship with a human, than the cruel cook (Sian Phillips) finds them out and sets the rat catcher (Tony Haygarth) on them.

Forced to flee to the countryside, the Borrowers hike through a jungle of grass, dodging blackbirds and dogs, looking for a new home and relatives who left long ago. In the process, they expand their horizons in more ways than one.