#OnTheBigScreen: 'Four Kids and It' and 'Made in Italy'

Four Kids and It

A group of everyday kids come face to face with their greatest fear when they discover that their summer vacation in the English seaside is, in fact, a ruse – a bonding trip with their potential future step-siblings engineered by a new couple, Alice (Paula Patton), a workaholic American expat, and David (Matthew Goode) a reserved Brit. Their modern-day nightmare, however, is interrupted by the discovery of an eccentric, ancient creature who lives below the sand – the Psammead (voiced by Michael Caine) – who possesses the ability to grant their every wish, with the tacit understanding that their wish will come to an end at the end of the day.

Adapted for film by screenwriter Simon Lewis and directed by Andy De Emmony, Four Kids and It takes its cue from the beloved British children’s author, Jacqueline Wilson, and her bestselling book Four Children and It, adapted from Edith Nesbit’s Edwardian children’s classic, Five Children and It, published in 1902.

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Made in Italy

A heartwarming father-son story set in glorious Tuscany about bohemian London artist Robert (Liam Neeson), who returns to Italy with his estranged son Jack (Micheál Richardson) to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife. Neither expects to find the once beautiful villa in such a state of disrepair.

Renovations go badly, with father and son soon finding themselves at odds. For Jack, the state of the house seems to mirror his search for memories of happier times with his mother. He soon falls for Natalia (Valeria Bilello), a vivacious young Italian chef, who restores both body and soul with delights from her local trattoria. As Robert and Jack painstakingly restore the villa to its previous glory, they also start to mend their relationship. The future may now look quite different and surprise them both.

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