The Iron Giant (1999)

Premise: Hogarth (Eli Marienthal), the only son of single mother Annie Hughes (Jennifer Aniston) discovers a giant alien robot (Vin Diesel) living in the woods outside their small, 1950s town. As Hogarth teaches the robot to speak and about our world, he convinces local junk yard owner Dean (Harry Connick, Jr.) to take the robot in. Unfortunately, a government agent (Christopher McDonald), convinced of the robot's danger, descends on the town to gather enough evidence about the robot to have him exterminated.

Isn't that always the way in these movies? Lost little boy finds an otherworldly friend, only to have the government get in the way.

I was reading this list, and I started wondering how he could have omitted this gem. David Edelstein rarely misses a chance to sing the praises of one of wunderkind Brad Bird's early works, and Dana Stevens is ready to pick up the slack when he does. I finally screened this apparently largely ignored ready-made children's classic, and I couldn't agree more.

Effortlessly charming and built around the sort of message that seems to anchor all of director Bird's films, Tim McCanlies' screenplay, adapted from the book by Ted Hughes, sells its simple story honestly and winningly. There isn't a lot of fuss in this movie: the largest subplot revolves around Dean's artistic endeavours, and the Giant gets involved with those as well.

There's no mention of Hogarth's father (although it is implied that he may have died), and neither the Giant nor Dean are put into pat substitute father roles. Instead, Hogarth is allowed to form friendships, and his relationship with the sweet and childlike Giant (a surprisingly subtle performance by Diesel, if you can imagine a subtle Iron Giant) forms the tender and heartbreaking core of the movie.

Combined with the warm and lifting score by the late, great Michael Kamen, it's difficult to understand why this movie didn't do better, why it isn't the great children's classic it was meant to be. If you want to see an excellent movie about a robot from outer space and the boy who befriends him, look no further. A