anderson8164
What a great heart felt Movie. I loved this movie. Eli played such a magical part in this movie. I even cried during parts of it. Thanks so much for making such a caring and heart felt movie. I truly loved the spirit of this movie. I hope to see many more movies like this. They just bring the best out of people. I wish, life could be more like this everyday. The cast of this movie was wonderful. Please continue to make more movies like this. I would love to know more movies with Maurice Cole in them. He is a great little actor. Thanks again for bringing the Christmas Spirit into our lives. More people should live their lives this way and get back to the simple things in life, that truly matter. We need to get back down to earth and get away from all of the electronics, that seem to have taken over our lives. We all need to get back to what family means and cherish the families that we have.
steve-623-15461
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.
Rich Wright
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the creepiest movie child ever.This kid is a real piece of work. He walks around everywhere in a hat and suit. He watches news channels rather than cartoons. He'd rather read War And Peace than children's books. He uses big words like he'd swallowed a dictionary. He knows more about business than Donald Trump and Alan Sugar put together. He is, in short, a precocious little brat who needs a clip round the ear. But in the misguided world of this director, I supposed he's meant to be 'cute' and 'loveable'. Man, how wrong can you be...We know when we're supposed to be moved by a scene, because the orchestra swells in the background. This is done because the screenplay fails to achieve that aim itself, and so has to resort to emotional manipulation. We get an extended segment in Legoland, of our family going on rides, enjoying the ice cream etc. This is of course, pivotal to the plot and in no way is influenced by Lego dumping a truckload of cash on the producer's front lawn, oh no. We have Richard E Grant playing a tramp, in rather a pointless appearance where he simply stares at fireflies and offers familiar homilies about life and loss. This is a bit rich coming from a dirty hobo who has nothing to his name, other than a twinkling smile.Oh, I forgot to mention the best part. Basically, this weird little lad's foster daddy runs a toy company, and thanks to the recession and his outdated products everything's gone a bit Pete Tong. He enlists the help of his adopted son to save his ailing factory, and what do they come up together? Why, a MYSTERY BOX. What is in the BOX you might say? Well, five random toys. The same toys that no-one was buying before, which were sinking the company. But because they're suddenly packaged in a crate with a question mark on them, the stockists go apesh*t over them. At a five minute board meeting, based on this stupid idea, all the head honchos order 10k, 20k of this product... Despite it being the same tat that WASN'T selling before, just more of it. No-one there must have heard of market research. And then we get a little plug in for Hamley's. NICE WORK GUYS.As for the mother, she's been a sad sack throughout. Why? Glad you asked! She lost her natural born child two years ago in a tragic accident, and since then has been unable to conceive due to the trauma of that incident. Hence the reason they took the freakish kid on in the first place. And as the movie progresses, her new four-eyed charge brings new hope and light to her existence, and she finally learns to love life against. Towards the end of the film on Christmas Eve, we see her throwing up in a toilet... Which by this point, is a feeling I can sympathise with. I know why I felt like vomiting, but what about her? Clue: It wasn't the sprouts. Then, she packages something up, and gives to her husband as an early present with a big grin on her face. He thinks it's a Rolex. INCORRECT. It is something that won't leave you with much time on your hands though (Tee Hee).She then goes to tell speccy the 'good news'... and there, I'm afraid I must close the book on this sorry saga. The ending might have worked in a better movie, but I doubt it. Too many inconsistencies, plot holes, suspension of disbelief etc. needed. Sufficed to say, it's yet another attempt to wring tears out of us, But I'm afraid by now the well is dry. In fact, it was barren to begin with. Some say I'm too cynical. A misery guts. Mr Grumpy. But in a choice between being morose, or losing my dignity being affected by phony, badly written, artificial rubbish such as this, just call me Ebenezer Scrooge. BAH, HUMBUG!! 3/10
