The Tiger Rising is a pretty decent little family drama that shares some DNA (but not the heart-wrenching agony) of My Girl and Bridge to Terabithia. It has, at its heart, a nice conundrum for its kids but it really botches the resolution.

Set in Florida, this film is about a shy boy with a skin disease that keeps him (improperly) out of school and the really angry (and mean) new girl in class. They become iffy friends so the boy shows her the tiger that his dad’s motel-owning boss has secretly in a cage in the backwoods he owns. She wants to release it, the boy suggests the tiger might eat them. Fair point.

The film has a good cast. The two kids are good with relative newcomer Selah Kimbro Jones giving a performance that dares to be unlikable at times. They are joined by Queen Latifah (as the sage maid) and Sam Trammell (as the angry, defeated handyman father). The bad guy jerk boss is played by a very game Dennis Quaid who turns in a knowing, shit-eating grin, scenery-chewing performance. Any similarity between this tiger-owning Floridian who open carries to some other tiger-related royalty is surely coincidental.

I found the film overall fairly moving and pretty charming. It’s not amazing and it has some pacing problems, but I think kids and families would enjoy it. It doesn’t have as much emotional trauma as similar films though we do get a dead parent in flashback and some other off-screen trauma that might be a bit much for the kiddies.

It does botch the ending though… they want to free the tiger and maybe that’s a commendable thing to want, but the movie manages to suggest the very wrong course of action. I can’t imagine too many children will have the opportunity to release a dangerous wild animal, but if they do, hopefully they haven’t seen this misguided film.

But otherwise, it’s a pretty decent coming-of-age type film with good performances from the two kids. I could be flip and just suggest Bridge to Terabithia (or My Girl) instead – those are far better films. But this one works on a decent enough level (and won’t tear your still-beating heart out of your chest… probably).

Score: 76