Parents' Guide to Harold and the Purple Crayon

Despite the charming cast, beloved source material, and fantastical crayon creations, this adaptation can't quite secure its footing because of the aged-up main character. The comedic pratfalls and the conceit of the magical crayon remain appealing to younger viewers, but adults and teens may be put off by the entire notion of Harold as a grown-up man-child who could be perceived as the love interest for the widowed mother of a tween. There are some sweet moments between Harold and Mel—who's clearly still grieving his father's death and dealing with being bullied at school—and Deschanel is well cast as a mom struggling to help her son in the aftermath of her husband's death. Howery and Reynolds (who's somewhat underused, since Porcupine doesn't immediately follow Harold and Moose to the real world) are good comic relief, but neither they nor Clement's wacky evil librarian can fully save a movie that's unsure of its genre or target audience.

Although the movie's crayon creations are fun and imaginative, the premise of aging Harold ultimately doesn't work in a way that stays in keeping with the joy of the book, beyond the characters' curiosity and the magical crayon. Harold isn't quite a child stuck in a man's body, like in Big or Levi's own Shazam character. He's an animated adult version of a book character who's best known as a 4-year-old in pajamas. Kids may find Harold's Peter Pan-like nature amusing and will likely delight in Moose's physical humor, but the overall film is just OK.