Griffinkay

This movie had a great cast and an interesting premise, but so much of it was beyond my ability to suspend my disbelief. So much of it is implausible and Rosamund Pike's character is such a terrible human being. Honestly, am I supposed to root for her? Am I supposed to root for Peter Dinklage's character? Dianne Wiest's? I thought I knew who I should root for, but then the movie turns the tables and just makes everybody irredeemable. So why do I care? I left this movie feeling so annoyed. The previews looked interesting, and the movie started out fine but just got worse and worse. Believe all the bad reviews here. Skip this. You'll be glad you didn't waste your time.

While I feel the message of this film is laudable, the execution isn't great. It's full of mediocre acting, bad story and character development, bad writing, and is completely predictable. A movie promoting good church values doesn't have to be this bad. Simply said, this movie doesn't offer anything interesting or new. It's the stereotypical story of a young man struggling with the decision of whether to serve a mission or not and offers its audience no surprises or insights we haven't already seen dozens of times in other "feel-good" LDS movies. Like I said, I think the message is important, but the movie comes off as bland and, quite honestly, a bit preachy. I think there are more artistic and compelling ways to tell the same story or deliver the same message.

This movie has been accused of being overly-sentimental. That's probably true. Nonetheless, I am unable to watch this movie without crying. Jon Voight plays an ex-boxing champion raising his young boy (played by a stellar Ricky Schroder). I think Jon Voight is very good in this film (and I'm not a huge Jon Voight fan), and I think the young Schroder (who was seven, I believe, when he made this film) is fantastic. I find Faye Dunaway (who plays the boy's estranged mother) slightly annoying, but I forgive her because I love the film itself so much. I think Franco Zefferelli's direction is superb, and I enjoy much of the cinematography. I think the relationship between Voight and Schroder is particularly touching, and there are several scenes between them that bring me to tears. I really do give this movie a ten.