THE TIGER RISING: A Review of Giarratana’s New Film

Introduction

Ray Giarratana’s second directorial project, The Tiger Rising is a story about two young children learning to overcome the emotional barriers of past trauma. As an adaptation from a poignant young adult novel of the same title by author, Kate DiCamillo, the movie lacks the emotional punch of its source material and offers viewers a mediocre tale of childhood healing.

Synopsis

Rob Horton, played by Christian Convery of Sweet Tooth, is a grieving young boy with an aptitude for artistry.  He lives in The Kentucky Star Motel where his dad, Rob Horton Sr., played by Sam Trammell of True Blood, works as the maintenance man. Rob Jr., who is regularly bullied at school, is sent home for a few days due to psoriasis on his legs.

Before Rob leaves school, he befriends a sassy new student, Sistine Bailey, performed by Madalen Mills. The two children bond over the discovery of a tiger cruelly locked in a small cage behind the motel property. As they struggle over how to help the tiger, they help each other begin to heal from their personal trauma.

Along the way, they receive sage-like advice from Willie May, the motel cleaning lady, who is played by Queen Latifah. They also contend with the villain of the story, Beauchamp, performed by Dennis Quaid, who owns the motel and is responsible for the tiger’s predicament.

Protagonist Development

Rob has recently lost his mother, played by Katharine McPhee, to cancer. His father refuses to discuss any aspect of her with Rob. Thus, the young boy has never fully mourned her death. We get flashbacks of Rob with his dying mother that attempt to display the tenderness between them. The scenes don’t really hit the right notes. As a result, the movie fails at depicting Rob’s longing for his mother along with the lonely vacuum caused by her absence.

Rob experiences Ally McBeal-style animated internal fantasies and airy dream sequences. These small bites of fantasy don’t link up to what the exposition (and the film’s marketing) is literally telling you: That we are all trapped in a cage of our own making. Or in Rob’s case, that he’s trapped in a cage of loss and grief.

None of this is properly or effectively emoted to the viewer. Rather, it’s spoon-fed through dialogue and a tenuous allegory of Willie May’s childhood pet bird. Instead, Rob seems like a calm, artistic pacifist who floats through his world, while creating little sculptures and drawings along the way.

Supporting Cast

Sistine, the rage-filled counterpart to Rob’s character, is hiding her pain of abandonment with her anger. Her father has left her and her mother, and she clings to the hopeless idea that he will come back for her. The actress certainly emotes wrath. Mills sneers as she spits out her sharp words and seethes in her dialogue.

Her character is quick to anger to levels that are alarming. Sistine is a verbally abusive person and Rob is instantly endeared with her. This doesn’t bode well for his character. In some scenes, the two children act out the abuser-enabler relationship. As a children’s film, their relationship is a problematic message to children in vulnerable situations.

Additionally, the actors lack chemistry. Convery does a great job of listening to his counterpart. His silent moments carry weight and Mills is a great performer, but the two of them don’t feel engaged in their work. This doesn’t hurt the film too much, but it does work against the subtext that the story is trying to convey.

The motel owner, Beauchamp, played by Dennis Quaid, plays the role of the villain for the movie. His character is more of a caricature of an alpha male. Quaid performs Beauchamp, of whom all the characters refer to as ‘Beecham’, with vigor and total commitment. His Quaidiness is in full force and he’s fun to see on screen.

Queen Latifah graces the film with underplayed charisma as Willie May. She is a master of her craft, bringing a beautiful subtlety to her role that is much needed in this film. She and Quaid are the strongest aspects of The Tiger Rising.

Critique

The movie shares most of its emotional information through dialogue and exposition. It lacks nuance and flow. Considering this is a story of grief, abandonment, and animal abuse there should be a bit more oomph. The storyline skates along at a superficial level, jumping from one scene to the next, lacking impact. Flashback scenes between Rob and his dying mother miss on poignancy.

As the second most important arc in the film, Sistine’s relationship with her father is never explored. All we experience of Sistine’s familial strife is a brief, combative scene with her mother. We never learn if her father led her to believe he would come back for her, or if this was just part of Sistine’s imagination.

The writing is vanilla and predictable. A little smoothing out at rehearsal readings could have given the dialogue a little more needed realism. Subsequently, it feels contrived during some conversations, but it hits all the beats.

Alarmingly brief is the climactic scene of the film. It comes out of nowhere and is poorly blocked and edited. First, we have a moment of wonder, then BAM, a sloppy action sequence, and a gush of contrived emotional redemption. Tears and hugs, then a happy ending with closing narration to boot. It’s awkward but does deliver the message.

The look and atmosphere of the film are wonderful. The cinematography and set design carry a certain whimsy. The music feels magical and on point for a story about a boy to uses his imagination to cope with loss. The Tiger Rising is quite pretty to look at and the overall tone is perfect for a children’s story. It’s a beautifully set stage for the story. In this aspect, praise is well-deserved.

In Summary

While not the best film that tackles the perils of emotional development in preteens, it’s not all bad. The emotional aspects of the film aren’t fully hashed out or demonstrated in the final project. However, the artistry of the technical aspects of the movie does much to prevent the film from sinking. Two stand-out performances by Queen Latifah and Dennis Quaid, perk up the screen. All said The Tiger Rising ends up being a light dalliance of a film striving to deliver a deeper message.

The Tiger Rising comes to theaters on January 21^st, 2022, and on-demand and digital on February 8^th, 2022.

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