A young boy draws on the inspiration of legendary western characters to find the strength to fight an evil land baron in the old west who wants to steal his family's farm and destroy their idyllic community.

Director Jeremiah S. Chechik brought us "national Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (a classic) and "Benny and Joon" (a cult hit),and then this. Despite a great cast, it just sort of flops around and goes nowhere. The plot really ought to be: kid hangs out with legendary figures, ruins their lives. Why they put up with him is beyond me.

One of the more disappointing things, actually, is how little we get of Calamity Jane. For me, if I had Catherine O'Hara on my payroll, I would find a way to expand her part. But I guess not. I will give them credit for Paul Bunyan, though, as their interpretation is certainly unique.

Some of us may wonder how appropriate it was for Disney to make a movie linking American legends and historical events, but I wish to assert that "Tall Tale" is worth seeing. It portrays a boy (Nick Stahl of "In the Bedroom") joining up with Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze),Paul Bunyan (Oliver Platt) and John Henry (Roger Aaron Brown) to fight a developer (Scott Glenn) in the American West in 1905. The movie sort of gives one the feeling that these tales may have had some truth to them. I recommend it.

Oh, and although Catherine O'Hara only appears in one part (as Calamity Jane),she steals the scene there.

I expected some sort of supernatural-type hero story with he likes of Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and Jhn Henry, but this movie was more like a regular adventure. It reminded me, in some respects, of an adventure out West such as White Fang. It was that kind of story.

The kid in here, "Daniel Hackett," played by Nick Stahl, was a little annoying for awhile, the typical snotty kid they like to show in the movies, but came to his senses by the end and wound up a decent kid who respected the people he was supposed to respect.

Meanwhile, all the characters including bad-guy "J.P. Stiles" (Scott Glenn) were a lot of fun not only to watch but to listen to, with some good dialog.

In all, it was lightweight fun and a good adventure story rolled into one. Patrick Swaze was a hot as "Pecos Bill" and Oliver Platt equally fun as "Paul Bunyan," and who doesn't admire big "John Henry" (Roger Aaron Brown)?

Why this is not available (at least in Region 1) on DVD is a mystery to me. It's just a fun movie - pure escapism for more than just kids.