In this film by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, a young boy learns lessons about life and God during a trying year of discovery in fifth grade at a Catholic boys' school. As the school year opens, Joshua Beal (Joseph Cross) is despondent over the recent death of his grandfather (Robert Loggia). On his first day at school, Joshua is harassed by the class bully. Because his grandfather played football, Joshua tries out for the school team, over the objections of his parents (Dana Delaney and
Denis Leary), two physicians who don't like the risk of injury. But Joshua is inept athletically and does not make the team. Joshua continues to seek answers from God about his grandfather, so his teacher, Sister Terry (Rosie O'Donnell), advises him to approach a cardinal who is coming to visit the nearby girls school. Joshua meets a young girl at the school and falls for her. As the year goes by, Joshua continues his quest for spiritual answers and finds them in unexpected places, such as a winter snowstorm. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
A wonderful family film that deals sensitively, and even with humor, with a fairly unusual situation for the screen: a 9-year-old's struggles with his faith in God.
The fact is, just too many of the characters and plot points are right out of the stock room: the obligatory fat kid; the obligatory bully; the obligatory kid whose parents can't really afford Catholic school tuition ...
The film pursues its sensitive material with the appropriate degree of care, but the direction by M. Night Shyamalan turns potentially provocative moments into dull eddies of melodrama.
Absolute bile! It?s not funny, it has Julia Stiles in it, it has annoying 9 year old boys talking like adults in it and a predictable ending, and not a particularly good one at that! I'm glad Shyamalan was given the go ahead for The Sixth Sense based on this, as I liked it but I sure as hell wouldn't have!
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