Reviews

I won't add anything regarding the films story as loads of other reviewers have done a better job than I could.

All I will say is this film to me is designed like a funnel: From the start you have intense threads of action and discussion/consequences that slowly gather together and compress until the film is focused, charging towards the finish.

Acting is fantastic - this film has a nervous energy and authenticity that is hard to match.

When you watch it you realize you are not only seeing a great film, but also reliving an important slice of history.

I love Toni Collette and rented this because of her however I am very surprised she got mixed up with this film. I'm afraid I cannot give a full review as I had to stop watching at the part where the precocious child gets them to sing together in the car. Not only was this scene totally predictable (as was everything up to this point), but it was "hide under the sofa" embarrassing.

It stuck me that it had been created in a Hollywood kid-movie cutesy style - lovely clean light, bouncy manipulative music, but it had been 'tuned' to fit the British psyche. However I would have to say that whoever did this does not get the British angle on all this at all.

The kid has the mentality of a 50 year old, speaks as no kid on the planet would, and yet elicits the response "isn't he cute' from Toni Collette. In reality you would be running a mile from this spooky child, and so this request for suspension of disbelief was too much for me. The child himself also appeared to be reading every one of his lines, none seemed to come from him - although given their nature this is hardly surprising.

Please bear in mind with this review that I do like a lot of schmaltzy sentimental films - so have no problem with this particular genre, but this is one sick bag too much.