The Journey of Natty Gann - PG

Compelling adventure too violent for some kids.

Rating: PG Studio: Walt Disney Home Video Directed By: Jeremy Kagan Cast: John Cusack, Scatman Crothers, Lainie Kazan, Meredith Salenger Running Time: 101 minutes Release Date: 09/27/1985 Genre: Action/adventure

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this movie is set in the Depression and depicts the bleakness of extreme poverty. Natty's mother is dead and her father leaves her because he found work across the country, so Natty must fend for herself. While there's considerable violence -- from a bloody dog fight to a man who tries to assault Natty when he offers to give her a ride -- the scarier moments aren't portrayed as graphically as they could be. Even when a train derails, Natty walks away with only a few scrapes.

Families can use the film to talk about how the Great Depression affected their grandparents and great-grandparents. How realistic were some of the scarier things in the film, like kids orphaned by parents who left to get work?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Heather Boerner

In an odd way, THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN has more in common with Lassie Come Home and Homeward Bound than teenage coming-of-age movies. It's not about an inner journey, really. It's about a cross-country adventure and the strength and fun that Natty finds along the way.

Despite having lost a mother as a child, Natty Gann (Meredith Salenger) lives happily with her union-thumping dad in a hotel. The family is content but poor. But when Natty's dad Sol (Ray Wise, whom parents may remember as the creepy dad from Twin Peaks) gets the chance at a job across the country, he reluctantly takes it, promising to send for Natty as soon as he gets money. Left alone with only the mean landlady (Lainie Kazan), who is preparing to turn her in to social services, Natty decides to find her dad on her own.

Natty doesn't know where in Washington state he is or have a dime in her pocket, but she joins the bands of tramps and orphaned kids trying to make it on their own in one of the roughest times in American history.

There are definitely some tense, scary moments on her journey. Natty's saving grace is that she finds parent figures along the way, from a wolf who offers her his kill to Harry (a Better Off Dead-era John Cusack, who is a delight) who teaches her how to ride the rails and offers her his meager can of beans when she's hungry. Because of Harry's fatherly kindness to Natty, it's a little off-putting when a romance blooms between the two.

Besides Lassie Come Home and Homeward Bound, people who enjoy this film may also like White Fang (featuring the same wolf!), Annie, or Paper Moon.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Natty and Harry kiss once.
Violence A man who picks up Natty hitchhiking attempts to sexually assault her. A train derails and sends Natty flying. Some punching, rock-throwing, slapping, explosions, and a serious fall from a tree. Dogs are shown fighting with bloodied mouths and Wolf attacks two men. Natty skins a bunny and cooks it. Vigilantes torch a shanty town and beat the homeless people there.
Language A few uses of "hell," "son of a bitch," "d--m," and "s--t."
Message
	Social Behavior Natty does some things because of her poverty: She breaks into a movie theater to watch a movie, steals food, and helps some kids steal a cow and car. Men gamble on a dog fight.
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Connie smokes cigarettes and drinks liquor. Natty and her friends share a cigarette. Harry smokes cigarettes. The lumberjack foreman smokes a cigar.