Mixing wholesome family drama, creepy characters, sci-fi elements that echo Cocoon, and new-agey sentiments about living and life, this film by Jay Russell (My Dog Skip) generally does the popular book by Natalie Babbitt justice. Aided by elegant narration from Elisabeth Shue, Russell's take on the period tale is literate and handsome in the Wonderful World of Disney style, with enough robust acting and general weirdness to divert you from the implausible and the melodramatic.

Set in 1914, the story has feisty 15-year-old Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel), daughter of a wealthy, prominent family, trying to break free of her uptight parents (Amy Irving and Victor Garber). In the woods of the Fosters' estate she meets the salt-of-the-earth Tucks, learns of the spring that makes them immortal, and falls for the handsome son, Jesse (Jonathan Jackson). Enter mysterious Ben Kingsley with all the sleazy, sinister glee of his Don Logan in Sexy Beast: he's sent to find Winnie, but when he does, he's out to seize the spring. William Hurt and Sissy Spacek as the elder Tucks espouse cautionary sentiments about the quest for immortality, but the film's showcase is the blossoming romance between youthful stars Bledel and Jackson. One guess as to whose faces adorn the ads. (90 minutes) At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Opera House, Providence Place 16, and Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas.