Macaulay In Tights!

"The Nutcracker"

directed by Emile Ardolino

Warner Brothers

Trumpeted as "The Nutcracker With Macaulay Culkin," the new movie prompts dread in fans of the Christmas classic: what have they done to it this time? Rest assured, the ballet has survived intact, Tschaikovsky's score and Balanchine's choreography happily unadulterated.

The familiar score and choreography tell the story of young Marie, celebrating Christmas with her parents, her brother Fritz and a houseful of guests, when her mysterious godfather arrives with magical gifts and a charming nephew. Marie is enchanted by his present of a nutcracker shaped as a toy soldier, and by his nephew. That night she dreams of a battle of mutinous mice, won by the nephew in the guise of a life-size nutcracker. Marie and the Nutcracker are then carried off to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy, where they are entertained by dancers of every country and candy imaginable. The dancers are talented, notable performers including Arabian Coffee and Mother Ginger in drag with her brood hidden under her skirt.

The staging is faithful to the original throughout, with thankfully little narration (delivered when necessary in the melodious tones of Kevin Kline). Unfortunately, the movie's salvation is also its biggest problem. In preserving the integrity of the ballet, director Emile Ardolino, of "Dirty Dancing" fame, has done little that is terribly filmic. Although the camera's close range lets one see the dancers' facial expressions and the beautiful costumes, the set is surprisingly unimaginative, and fails to take advantage of the medium. The whole movie looks like a well-done stage version on film, and in fact, it is. It was filmed on the stage of the Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase, with a cast drawn from the New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet.

Jessica Lynn Cohen is charming as Marie, and Peter Reznick is perfectly pesky as her little brother Fritz. And Mr. Culkin? He holds his own, perhaps thanks to his days as a student at the School of American Ballet, B.H.A. (Before "Home Alone"). However, he's not the most attractive little boy onstage, nor the best dancer, and other than being Macaulay Culkin, it's hard to understand why he's there. It's hard to understand why any of the movie is here, because so little of it is new or innovative. If the real ballet is inaccessible, this Nutcracker is an acceptable substitute, but if you can see it in the flesh, don't bother with a cramped cinema.