A Different Beat : Youths...

The question here is, can Macaulay Culkin in velveteen pants and a floppy bow interest kids of the ‘90s in flawless toe dancing and truly beautiful music?

Keri Reynolds, 7, and her brother, Sean, 5, first stuck their thumbs down. Then up. Then wiggled them up and down. The jury is out.

Keri said she didn’t mind Culkin’s awkward stabs at princely elegance. Nor his distracting facial tics, or unusual expressions. What really bothered her was that he never spoke. Not once.

She said her interest in the movie was high until the dancing snowflake scene, when she realized no one but the narrator was ever going to talk.

The children had been brought on a family outing by their grandmother, who thought this would be good for them.

Indeed, there are several benefits to taking children to the movie version over the stage version:

For one, you can introduce several children to the classic for only the cost of a movie ticket. And you can bring the younger ones without worry; they can get up and go to the restroom whenever they have to.

And, you can get closer than a front row seat at the Performing Arts Center. Close-up shots of Darci Kistler’s face and graceful athleticism as the Sugar Plum Fairy made even the youngest viewers aware they were seeing something out of the ordinary, even if they did not recognize it as art.

“I thought she was a robot,” Keri said.

The movie also used different angles and sound effects to show how Marie shrinks to doll size in her dream. The parlor Christmas tree sounded like a volcano as it was seen expanding from below.

In the film version, we also get a narration by Kevin Kline that explains just enough of the plot for “Nutcracker” neophytes. And it provokes the senses by adding some descriptions such as, the house was full of rich, wonderful smells, cinnamon, chocolate, peppermint sticks. But it was not enough to keep all the rug rats glued to the screen.

Bonnie Beckman, 6, hung by her knees like a possum from the seat ahead of her.

Sean Reynolds got bored, sent his toy truck down the aisle and cried when he lost it.

Two movie-hopping boys peeked in briefly then left. “I don’t think so,” one said to the other.

Generally low attendance may push out the movie to make room for other holiday blockbusters. So those who like dancing and prefer to see and hear the performance on the big screen might want to catch it soon.

Families can do much worse at the movies. At the least, an hour and a half of Tchaikovsky isn’t all bad.