Parents Television Council Reviews

PTC reviews aim to provide you with advance information about an entertainment offering so that you can be the final arbiter of what you and your family see.

Wilder Days - TNT

By Kellie MacDonald

Cable network TNT treats families to another quality original film with its third installment of Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentations.  Wilder Days, starring Peter Falk, Tim Daly, Josh Hutchinson and Kate Vernon airs on TNT at Wednesday, October 22nd @ 9pm(ET), Saturday, October 25th @ 4pm(ET), and Sunday, October 26th @ 9:30am(ET). This film is full of wonderful messages about the spirit of imagination, and the forgiveness of family for past wrongdoings and has been awarded the PTC Seal of Approval.

Wilder Days is an adventure-filled drama about the challenges and rewards of maintaining strong family connections.  Peter Falk stars as James "Pop Up" Morse, an aging adventurer who spent his life creating beautiful, handmade pop-up books.  Pop Up spent his son John's childhood attempting to find a publisher for his books and missed out of many father-son experiences.  As a result, Pop Up and John aren't close and John resents the books and the adventure-filled stories in them.   John's son Chris is enthralled by Pop Up's tales but workaholic John would rather that Chris lose his love of the fantastic and focus on the realities of life.  Pop Up decides the only way to reconnect with his son and rekindle the family's bond to each other is to prove the truth in his tall tales about the wreck of the Wilder Days, the circus boat he worked on as a young man. Knowing that John will follow and try to stop them, Pop Up breaks out of his nursing home and, without John's permission, sets off with Chris on a dangerous and life-changing road trip in his 1959 baby blue Cadillac Eldorado.

There are smatterings of foul language throughout the film, primarily "hell" and "crap," but there is also one instance each of "piss" and "bastard," and several uses of "cajones."  In addition, the film also deals with Pop Up's health problems, including Sundowner's Syndrome and incontinence.    Mild violence is shown in flashbacks to the Wilder Days circus boat.  Shots of a fire on the boat may be a bit intense for younger children.  Another intense scene occurs when, in an emergency situation, Chris drives his grandfather's car and hits a deer, killing it.  Chris is devastated that he harmed an animal and tries to save it.  In another scene, a car thief tries to steal Pop Up's car and punches John.  Later, Pop Up encourages the thief to use his talents for positive things and the thief is able to turn his life around.    

Wilder Days is a sweet story that highlights the relationship between a boy and his grandfather and examines how a lack of faith can destroy the relationship between father and son.   The film also demonstrates the importance of forgiveness, especially in family relationships.  The film addresses the unstoppable process of aging, and shows John and Chris's reactions to Pop Up's mortality.  Because of the subject matter, Wilder Days is not a movie that young children will enjoy, but this PTC Seal of Approval winner is perfect for families with older kids. 

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