**** [4 out of 5 stars]
Good, all-ages storytelling is a timeless art, and The Legend of Johnny Lingo falls into that category. This exotic little New Zealand film about an outcast island boy is full of surprises that will make even the grumpiest viewer crack a smile.
One day, the people of Malio Island come upon a baby boy in a canoe. Thinking he is a prince sent by the gods, the island's king takes him in and makes him a prince named Tama. But a jealous queen leads the community to believe Tama is the bearer of misfortune, and he is cast out. With nowhere to go, he moves in with a drunken man and his unkempt daughter. Ultimately, he runs away to another island, where he discovers his true roots and must confront his past.
The experience is heartbreaking at first, but Tama's plight morphs into a tale of personal exhilaration.
The role of Tama is chronicled over 20 years, portrayed by four actors. But the acting takes a back seat to an enchanting story about love, discipline and honor. The Legend of Johnny Lingo is told through the cozy voice of a narrator, and the delivery makes you feel as if you're sitting in Grandpa's living room while he shares outlandish stories from his past.
Johnny Lingo hardly qualifies as an A-list feature film; it has the feel of a television movie of the week. But what it lacks in production and acting quality, it makes up for in warmth and spirit.
Grade: C+
The Legend of Johnny Lingo feels like less of a legend and more like an after-school television special, albeit a perky one filled with stunning tropical vistas.
The film begins on the small Polynesian island of Malio one stormy night circa the late 1800s. A boat containing an infant boy washes ashore, and the local villagers decide he must be a gift from the gods. Malio's chief (Rawiri Parantene) names the boy Tama and adopts him as his heir, much to the dismay of his wife and son.
Circumstances begin to suggest that Tama is a gag gift from one of the nastier deities, as he is bounced from family to family, bringing each bad luck in turn. By age 12, Tama (Tausani Simei-Barton), is living with the island drunk and his plain, hot-tempered daughter Mahana (Fokikovi Soakimi). The two go together like peanut butter and gasoline at first, but after enduring a constant barrage of abuse from the islanders and the father, she and Tama find common ground and mutual respect.
Tama tires of the abuse and leaves the island on a homemade boat. Mahana stays behind, compelled to look after her father. Tama drifts on the ocean for several days before washing ashore on an island that serves as the homestead and base for trader and self-styled man-of-the-world Johnny Lingo (George Henare).
Over the protests of his staff, Johnny takes Tama under his wing and becomes a much-needed father figure for the tempestuous youth. Over several years, Tama grows into a confident and competent young man (played by Joe Falou) who returns to Malio for Mahana.
Based on the 1962 short story "Johnny Lingo's Eight Cow Wife" by Patricia McGerr, Legend is a routine, amusing rags-to-riches tale that wears its heart on its sleeve. Much of the conflict is tame and perfunctory, and first-time director Steven Ramirez is often heavy-handed with the schmaltz. The story is almost consistently upbeat, even during its few tragic moments. And you get the feeling that Mr. Ramirez is afraid he'll make someone feel bad.
Still, there's plenty to recommend The Legend of Johnny Lingo, including fine performances. While the two Tamas are alternately awkward and wooden, Mr. Henare is suave and enigmatic as the title character, and Mr. Parantene is excellent in a role not unlike the one he recently played in Whale Rider. New Zealand television star Kayte Ferguson is impressive as an older Mahana. Also, the Cook Islands locations are a feast for the eyes.
The movie's G rating, and its message that even the roughest of edges can be smoothed away to reveal a wonderful person, make for ideal family entertainment, as long as you can get past the corniness.
"What if you were born a king and didn't know it?" ask the creators of The Legend of Johnny Lingo in their advertisements for the film. "What if you made a bad film and didn't know it?" is the logical response.
This movie is a good idea gone awry. Based on a short story by the late Patricia McGerr, it's a coming-of-age tale with Polynesian roots. The story line itself is somewhat intriguing: A baby is found by a tribe in an abandoned boat on the beach. Through a series of unfortunate events brought about largely by the jealous wife of the island chief, the boy Tama becomes an outcast. When he is old enough, he builds a boat and escapes -- leaving behind his only friend, a girl he loves. This time, Tama lands on the shores of an island occupied by a wealthy and kind trader, Johnny Lingo (George Henare). His luck begins to change.
Sounds exactly like the kind of G-rated adventure-meets-love-story that parents crave for their young moviegoers. But several forces conspire to make this movie dull, dull, dull. First, the story line is stretched so thin over 90 minutes that it hurts. The dialogue is flat and trite (and, inexplicably, all the different tribe members and characters speak English). The acting, with the exception of Henare, is flat-out bad. One should have to watch performances of this caliber only in middle-school plays, where the actors are people close to your heart. The casting of main character Tama is especially odd -- his child self (Tausani Simei-Barton) and the grown-up version (Joe Falou) appear to have come from completely different gene pools, which puzzled my young-teen viewing companion. Odder still is that the movie was filmed in the Cook Islands and New Zealand to give it authenticity, but the sets and costumes are almost pure Gilligan's Island.
Johnny Lingo has an unwelcome retro flavor to it. It reminded me of the movies I watched as a kid in the 1970s every Saturday afternoon on the CBS Children's Film Festival hosted by Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The films were generally wholesome, overly sentimental and technically unremarkable. They were just fine for my generation's fairly unsophisticated palates, but children -- and their parents -- today expect and deserve a lot more than this weak effort that should have gone, if anywhere, straight to video.
Rating: 2.5 [out of 5]
The island chief (Rawiri Pawantene) finds a baby boy washed up on the beach after a storm; he decides to adopt the child as his own and calls him Tama. When it doesn't appear that the child is going to fulfill some great prophecy, he is denounced as the chief's son and banished to live with the island drunk and his "ugly" outcast daughter, Mahana. As children, Tama (Tausani Simei-Barton) and Mahana (Fokikori Soakimi) become friends, mostly because nobody else will have anything to do with them.
Tama sails away to seek his fortune and his true identity, but promises to return to take care of Mahana. He lands on an island owned by a rich trader known as Johnny Lingo (George Henare) and quickly becomes an indentured servant for seven years, but at least he learns all about sailing and the trading business. In return for his loyalty, Tama takes over for Lingo (in the tradition of the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride). Later, facing rather dire straits, Tama is forced to decide if he's going to be a man who keeps his promises or somebody who only looks out for number one. But the real lesson he learns is that the only way to true happiness is to follow your heart.
There are some really sweet moments, especially when the village drunk extols the virtues of his much-maligned daughter for her years of devotion (it's a Hallmark moment, but it works).
This legend is a popular story in the Mormon Church, but there is nothing remotely "religious" about the movie - so if you're concerned about being preached to, you needn't worry about that.
The acting is a tad forced, with the kids having more charm than the grown-up versions of Tama (Joe Falou) and Mahana (Kayte Ferguson). By far, the best thing about this movie is the magnificence of the island paradises. If you ever thought about a trip to the South Pacific, this will certainly make you want to drool over the white sand beaches with an ocean so blue it doesn't look real and rich tropical jungle that goes on undisturbed for miles.
Movie Chick Cherryl:
"As a travelogue, it's inspiring. As a movie, it's a bit hokey, but okay, with some nice messages for the children - 2.5"
The vast expanse of azure, Polynesian beauty quickly blackens into a raging sea that sweeps a mysterious, baby-bearing canoe onto a remote South Pacific island at the turn of the last century. Malio Island's chief quickly proclaims the boy a gift of the gods, christens him Tama, and names him his heir. Not everyone is pleased. Incensed this strange child has been chosen over her own, the chief's wife stirs dissention among the tribe's female ranks. "Only the god of mischief would send such a child straight from the undercurrents," she shrieks, pointing at Tama's flaming red birthmark. Her words spark a wildfire of rumors, and soon Tama is being blamed for everything from missing trinkets to crop failures. Caving in to his wife's hysteria, the chief eventually denounces Tama (now a young boy) and turns him out. Blown from one family's hut to the next by the ill winds of gossip and slander, Tama is finally reduced to accepting scant food and shelter from the island drunk and his unkempt daughter, Mahana. Fellow outcasts, Tama and Mahana quickly bond and together brave the cruel taunts of the other island children. But the now-adolescent Tama can't stand such a miserable life sentence, and builds a boat to escape. He reluctantly leaves Mahana behind, fervently vowing to return for her.
The "god of blessings" seems to be with Tama when he washes ashore on the island of "The Great Johnny Lingo -- wealthiest trader in all the islands." There, he learns what it is to be a man under the loving, patient tutelage of Lingo, who instills in his young charge rich life lessons while training him in the fine art of trading. Then, on a voyage with Lingo, Tama discovers he's much more than an orphaned baby lost on the high seas. He's the son of a chief. Now he must decide between his birthright and the only father he's ever known, Johnny Lingo. And there's something else Tama must do, too... fulfill the promise he made to Mahana eight years earlier.
* positive elements: Despite being treated poorly and cast aside by his fellow islanders (or perhaps because of it), Tama exhibits a wealth of good qualities. He tenderly rocks an upset baby in the middle of the night. He comes to Mahana's defense when she's being ridiculed. He works hard to please each of his foster parents. He turns the other cheek to harsh words and behavior. Mahana also displays loyalty and restraint toward her drunken, provocative father (although at one point she throws eggs in his lap, angry because he promised her to an unacceptable suitor).
Johnny Lingo challenges his chief steward to look beyond Tama's rough exterior. "There's a treasure hidden deep in everyone; the adventure is to find it," he says. Lingo turns a bad situation into a teachable moment when Tama steals from him and tries to run away from his troubles and return to "the only one who ever cared for me [Mahana]." Lingo tells Tama that love is "a treasure more valuable than gold," but that caring for a girl with stolen goods is not a true expression of that love. "The more you're willing to pay, the more valuable the prize," he says. Lingo's love lesson parallels the biblical truth of God's ultimate payment of His Son to gain mankind's eternal salvation.
[Spoiler Warning] When Johnny returns to claim Mahana's hand, her father finally recognizes her true worth and repents of his reprehensible behavior by giving public tribute to her fine qualities. "Her devotion is worth more than any gold," he says, praising her for her hard work and unquestionable virtue.
* spiritual content: Most of the spirituality presented is the polytheism common to early island tribes. Although it is true that such pagan philosophies were indigenous, some parents won't want their younger children exposed to them. At least two of the islanders' gods are named onscreen, the "god of blessing" and the "god of mischief." During a violent storm, villagers huddle around their chief praying to the gods for a miracle. When Tama washes ashore, the chief calls him the answer to their prayers from the god of blessings. However, the jealous chief's wife calls the boy a curse from the god of mischief. A ceremonial drink offering is accidentally spilled, invoking fear of the wrath of the gods. An appeasement offering is said to have pleased the gods. Johnny Lingo's wife tells Tama that "a good and great god" has brought him safely to their home and will change his life.
* sexual content: Tama discovers Mahana bathing in a waterfall and teasingly threatens to hide her clothing until she answers his questions. (No more than a shoulder is bared and the tone is one of childlike flirtation.) A matronly woman propositions Lingo's chief steward with food and affection, promising to "make it worth his while" if he'll give her daughter special position in Tama's pool of marriage candidates. The steward literally runs from the temptation (just as Joseph ran from Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39).
* violent content: The baby Tama washes ashore following a violent storm. A hut burns down and is blamed on Tama's "bewitchment," but no one is hurt. Fruit is pelted at Tama and Mahana.
* crude or profane language: A child is called a "dirty pig" and "ugly." The island women gossip viciously about Tama. Mahana's father verbally abuses her.
* drug and alcohol content: Mahana's father is always seen in a drunken stupor, a state that's frowned upon by the islanders. Johnny Lingo sputters on a clear liquid in a short glass, but its contents are not identified. A gang of boys is seen drinking from bottles, weaving and taunting Mahana.
* other negative elements: As children, both Mahana and Tama are bullied by their peers. Mahana's dad threatens to withhold food if the day's work is not done. Another islander threatens to "be after" children selling kindling if it's not dry. Tama is told from infancy that he's bad luck, and the reason behind every island misfortune. Mahana's father turns his bitter grief over the death of his wife into anger toward his daughter, calling her ugly, worthless and the source of all sorrow. Tama invites Mahana to disobey her father and play hooky from work.
An island matriarch bares (the adult) Tama's backside to reveal his birthmark, but the camera quickly turns away. There's also some minor scatological humor (the baby Tama urinates on the chief and, as a boy, Tama creates flatulent water bubbles).
* conclusion: The short story this film is based on, Patricia McGerr's Johnny Lingo's Eight-Cow Wife, has long been embraced by the Mormon culture. A 1969 short film version was called "the mother of all LDS films" by Mark Saal of the Ogden Standard-Examiner. Inexplicably, neither the original story nor this film exhibits church doctrine. What they do hint at are biblical themes of redemption, forgiveness, self-worth and love.
While there will certainly be no Oscars in The Legend of Johnny Lingo's future, the film's low-budget production values don't overshadow its beautiful heart, captured perfectly when Johnny Lingo tells his chief steward, "The challenge is to take a common stone and polish it into a valuable gem." He himself takes up that challenge with Tama. Under Lingo's patient love and nurture, Tama sheds the dirt and grime of the negative self-image wrongly imposed on him and sparkles with newfound value and esteem. Tama likewise nurtures Mahana's transformation by befriending her in childhood and returning to claim her in true Cinderella fashion, paying her father the highest dowry in island history. So Christ redeems our once worthless lives with His love, transforming us into children of great value and honoring us with a place in His family. Johnny teaches Tama, as Christ does His children, that love is the greatest gift of all (1 Cor. 13:13).
Families who decide to take a trip to Tama's islands should spend time afterward talking about the experience. Parents can ask, "How do you react when you're in trouble?" Tama did some stupid things like lying, running away and getting angry. God wants us to admit our trouble and confess our sins. And He promises to forgive us when we do (1 John 1:9). Also, "How do you steer your life?" When Tama was learning to pilot Johnny's boat, he needed to steer it in the right direction even when there was no land in sight. Johnny taught Tama to focus on "something that doesn't change, like the stars." Jesus never changes and wants to show us the right direction for our lives (Heb. 12:2, Ps. 25:4-5). And since some of the movie's positive themes are muddied by the persistent presence of cultural polytheism, parents will want to discuss what the Bible says about the one, true God (1 Cor. 8: 4-6, Ex. 20:3).
Strictly speaking, "The Legend of Johnny Lingo" is not a "Mormon movie." Its director and producers are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the film itself has nothing to do with the religion.
But its primary financial backer is Morinda, Inc., the Orem, Utah-based makers of Tahitian Noni Juice, one of those health drinks that you buy through distributors (rather than at stores, where reputable drinks are sold).
And the concept, while based on a 1962 short story, is nonetheless only known to anyone today because the LDS Church produced a 24-minute film version in 1969 that has since become a part of Mormon popular culture. Non-Mormons probably have no interest whatsoever in the new film, but take my word for it, the Mormons are curious to see the kitschy old fable re-created on the big screen.
They'd be better off viewing the old short. The feature-length version is, not surprisingly, too long -- why take 90 minutes to tell a story that can be successfully told in 24? -- and manages to obscure the one thing the original had going for it: its uplifting message about self-worth.
The story is of a South Pacific island a century or so ago on whose shore an abandoned infant washes up. The boy is named Tama (Tausani Simei-Barton) and bounces from family to family, seeming to bring trouble with him wherever he goes. His one friend is Mahana (Fokikovi Soakimi), an unpopular, unattractive girl whose father is an alcoholic and always has debris in his hair. The kids enjoy a chaste, "Blue Lagoon" sort of young romance, but Tama ultimately leaves the island, promising to return someday for Mahana.
In his travels, he runs into a jovial fellow called Johnny Lingo (George Henare), who teaches Tama (played as an adult by Joe Falou) how to be a successful trader. Eventually, Tama -- who assumes the title of Johnny Lingo when the other one dies -- uses this knowledge to obtain a wife.
It is far afield from the original film, and from Patricia McGerr's short story. In those versions, Johnny has no backstory; he is simply a handsome, sought-after bachelor who arrives on the island to bargain for a wife. He does this in the new version, too, but Mahana's subsequent transformation is not nearly as striking, nor the theme of self-worth as well-pronounced.
Steven Ramirez, heretofore primarily a film editor, displays basic proficiency in his directorial debut. His actors' performances in this Polynesian Cinderella story are average and mostly likable, though none of them really stands out. It's not a bad film, and it has a certain sweetness to it. It's just so unnecessary, that's all. Giving Johnny and Mahana a backstory waters down the movie's impact, rather than enhancing it.
As a side note, the film contains no fewer than four by-name references to noni juice, always accompanied by a positive appraisal of the drink. The reason, of course, is to boost consumer interest in the product, since Tahitian Noni Juice, you will recall, is a sponsor. In my case, the attempt has backfired, as the references are so annoying and obvious that they solidified my determination never to drink the vile liquid again.
Grade: C
Grade: C-
How do you not improve on an amateur 20-minute student production known for it's bad acting, campy dialogue, and low production values? Don't ask.
The original Johnny Lingo short, (released over 20 years ago but recently re-released on a special edition DVD,) is famous in LDS culture not just for it's camp-appeal, but also for it's sweet portrayal of how a woman's perceived worth literally transforms her.
Based on a 1962 short story by Patricia McGerr called "Johnny Lingo's 8 Cow Wife," the production was amateurish at best. But it's sincerity, simplicity and innocence made it an enduring classic in LDS seminary and religion classrooms the world over.
A larger scale re-make hits select theaters this weekend. Unfortunately, in spite of being longer, bigger, and more expensive, the new Legend of Johnny Lingo does little to improve on the first. In some ways, it even falls short of its predecessor.
"What if you were born a king and didn't know it?" The tagline immediately tells us that The Legend of Johnny Lingo completely misses the point of the original. Who cares if you were a king and didn't know it? Johnny Lingo isn't -- or at least wasn't intended to be -- about such frivolities. It was meant to be about something much deeper.
The film tells the story of young Tama's (played by Tausani Simei-Barton) budding romance with the town drunk's unattractive daughter Mahana (Fokikovi Soakimi). As children, the two outcasts cling to each other fervently. When young Tama builds a boat and sets out to fairer shores, he promises Mahana he will come back for her one day.
Tama lands on a beautiful, prosperous island, and is taken under the wing of the wise and wealthy trader, Johnny Lingo. Johnny teaches Tama everything he knows, and Tama grows happily into a man (Joe Falou) on the island. But as Johnny Lingo grows old and faces death, he knows his legendary wisdom and kindness must live on, and he bestows his name upon Tama.
Having become the new Johnny Lingo, Tama's first task is to travel back to the island of his youth and claim the fully-grown and still ugly Mahana (Kayte Ferguson) as his wife. There are some changes to the original story, but anyone who knows the story of Johnny Lingo knows basically how this ends.
The Legend of Johnny Lingo has respectable intentions. Producers Gerald Molen and John Garbett (the powers behind LDS missionary story The Other Side of Heaven) have come up with what looks like a fun idea: Mahana Revisited. And thanks to the gorgeous backdrop of the Cook Islands, and some great acting from Joe Falou (The Other Side of Heaven) as Tama and Rawiri Paratene (Whale Rider) as a stern island chief, the movie's bearable.
But having strayed so far from the message of the original makes the film a disappointing experience. Johnny Lingo didn't give 8 cows for his wife because he already loved her, as the new movie portrays it -- he in fact loved her because he gave 8 cows for her. It was his willing sacrifice that helped Johnny love Mahana, and she in turn was transformed by knowing that someone thought her of such high worth.
The convoluted version of the beloved island legend is a disappointment chiefly because it strays too far beyond the bounds of a simple story. Audiences who know the original are distracted by questions like: why is "Johnny Lingo" a name that's passed down? What difference does it make whether or not Tama is really a powerful chief? And why in heaven's name is there a tacky ongoing advertisement for Tahitian Noni juice in this movie?
By it's very existence, the movie should be marketed toward adults who know the original movie. But the movie's posters, with its photo of a young island boy riding the waves on a surfboard, and it's trailers, which feature him frolicking mindlessly on the island while the virtues of "no school!" are touted in the background, seem to be aimed directly at a very young crowd.
If this is the case, The Legend of Johnny Lingo is a harmless film for the elementary set. But it's unfortunate that it couldn't have been something more substantial. There's so much potential in such a classic story.
KSL Movie Show Review:
The Legend of Johnny Lingo (PG-13)
Doug [Wright]: ** [3 out of 4 stars]
Steve [Salles]: ** [2 out of 4 stars]
Status: New Release