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Picks & Pans: 'Tuck,' Petty, 'Trace'
(PEOPLE) -- This week, PEOPLE.COM looks at the film "Tuck Everlasting," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' album "The Last DJ" and CBS' "Without a Trace." Movie review: 'Tuck Everlasting'
Some movies should have reverse age limits -- like "Suitable only for audiences 16 or under." Take "Tuck Everlasting," which is based on a popular 1975 children's novel by Natalie Babbitt. Older kids and younger teens are likely to be enchanted by this lovingly crafted story of Winnie Foster (Bledel, of "Gilmore Girls"), a teenage girl who learns that Jesse Tuck (Jackson), her 17-year-old beau, is really 104. But no nip and tucks for the Tucks. Jesse's youthfulness, and that of the rest of the Tuck clan, is attributable to water sipped from a magic spring. Winnie, too, is tempted to take a swig until the Tuck patriarch (Hurt) sagely tells her, "Don't be afraid of death. Be afraid of the unlived life." Though genuinely sweet, viewers old enough to know that young love is something you survive, like pimples, will find this romantic drama's treacle factor a little high. (PG) Bottom line: Love springs eternal in a solid kid's film Music review: 'The Last DJ'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Warner Bros.) Tom Petty, 51, is starting to sound as acerbic as Neil Young. On his 13th studio album with the Heartbreakers, Petty takes the music industry to task on tracks such as the deceptively jaunty title tune, which rails against radio's program-by-numbers mind-set. On the bluesy "Money Becomes King," Petty, in his distinctive drawl, sings about a sellout rock star who now only leaves his fans with "a craving for lite beer." Tender moments, including a couple of sweet love songs, temper the biting commentary. With its lush orchestration and nostalgic lyric about a place where "the air smelled good," "Dreamville" evokes just that. Bottom line: Worth spinning TV review: 'Without a Trace'CBS (Thursdays, 10 p.m. ET) Anthony LaPaglia is a brilliant actor with an Emmy ("Frasier") and a Tony ("A View from the Bridge") to his credit. Judging from the first two episodes of this drama, his role as the efficient leader of an FBI missing-persons unit won't be the ideal opportunity for LaPaglia to display his talents. There are only so many ways to say "Clock's ticking -- let's get out there." But even if the clipped dialogue sometimes suggests cop-show parody, the well-constructed mysteries give "Without a Trace" a strong foundation. The second episode hooked me with a classic parent's nightmare -- father separated from his son in a crowded subway station -- then gave the plot a couple of genuinely surprising twists. Realizing that characterization is not the top priority here, I just wish the writers would give LaPaglia more to work with and drop the needless reminders that subordinates Eric Close ("Now and Again") and Poppy Montgomery ("Blonde") have sex appeal. Bottom line: Keep track of it
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