听 
In the 1950s, young Tom Long is sent to live with his aunt and uncle while his brother recovers from measles. Bored and frustrated, Tom lies awake at night and hears a grandfather clock strike 13. When that happens, the house changes from converted flats into the grand stately home it once was while the backyard transforms into a gorgeous, almost endless garden.
If you've ever read the book you will be amazed at how much of it has stayed with you. The simple story is extremely powerful and won't let your attention go for a moment. The core tale is joyful, funny, exciting, and at times it is very moving both for children and adults. This film conveys all of that with wit and style but while it is very good, it's just not perfect. It stumbles over some scenes of explanation and while Anthony Way is generally strong as young Tom he can't handle some of the dialogue, which is clunky at times.
Florence Hoath is better as Hatty, a lonely young girl he meets in the garden, as is Caroline Carver playing the same role slightly older. Equally, the adult cast, which includes Greta Scacchi and James Wilby, get the weak or more obvious lines but all are able to carry them off.
Perhaps Willard Carroll is a better director than writer, then, as the look of the film by Carroll and cinematographer Gavin Finney is sumptuous. The 1950s settings are suitably drab next to the glory of the garden and the effects of the house transforming are a delight.
It could have been a touch better but it's one of the few films that should genuinely appeal to both children and adults.
