The Unbreakable Boy

When I'm writing this 20% of the reviews are 1 star, which is insane. The only explanation is there are narrow minded people that only see Zac Levi's political comments and decided that was enough to trash the movie. I'm pretty sure they didn't even see it, because if they had then they defeated their intention because the $$ spent means more than the 1 star.

They also ignore all the other great actors who put in fantastic performances.

Jacob Laval puts in a stellar performance. His manic delivery of dialogue was wonderfully done as were his facial expressions. Pretty impressive for his age.

I had not seen Meghann Fahy before in a lead role, but now I'm going to be looking for things she's done in the past and future. She was rememberable in her performance as "T".

The supporting cast were excellent complement. Patricia Heaton and Amy Acker delivered as always performances that made scenes work.

I can only hope that people are wise enough to look at the rating distribution and realize there are haters and ignore the composite rating.

The Unbreakable Boy is a touching family drama based on a true story. The film explores important themes of resilience, illness, and unconditional parental love, yet it fails to fully develop them.

Pros: The story is inspiring, and the protagonist is likable.

Strong performances, particularly from Zachary Levi as the father.

A warm and uplifting atmosphere that highlights the power of family and support.

Cons: The plot is predictable, and the screenplay feels shallow at times.

Lacks depth in character development-despite its potential, the story never reaches its full emotional impact.

Overly sentimental in places, relying on clichés rather than genuine drama.

Overall, The Unbreakable Boy is a decent family drama, but it lacks originality and depth to leave a lasting impression. It's worth a watch but unlikely to stay with you for long.

I found this movie on DVD at my public library. Its rating seems a bit low, my wife and I found it enjoyable, interesting and entertaining. The end credits and extras include the real family depicted here.

Zachary Levi is Scott, working in pharmaceutical sales. One day he is at a clothing store and sees a pretty clerk. He stammers and manages to get her phone number.

The pretty clerk is Meghann Fahy as Teresa. They start dating and soon she calls him and says, "I'm pregnant." He eventually finds out other things, a function of not getting to know a person well before falling in love.

Anyway they have a baby boy, he seems healthy but cries a lot. They soon find he has inherited the brittle bone affliction from his mother and had some broken ribs during birth. In addition, as he gets older is diagnosed with autism.

All of this creates a slew of expensive problems for the family. Scott copes by drinking too much which exacerbates the problems. The movie is about their working through all the difficulties and achieving their own definition of happiness.

I will also make special mention of Jacob Laval who plays young autistic Austin as a 13yr old. While all the actors are good he elevates it to superb.

Good, worthwhile movie.

This is not about a boy. Which makes it feel practically like false advertisement, considering that the trailer suggests otherwise. In fact, I'd say that the trailer has covered most of the highlights where the boy was, indeed, the focus. There are only a couple more scenes besides that.

So what's the movie is about really? I think it tried to be about a couple, at first, but then it became more about the father, and mostly him. There is a reason for this "pivot", if you can call it that, but it did not feel fair, to be honest, since it made the story somewhat one-sided.

Even if that can still be acceptable, I can't say the movie has much impact. It felt shallow for the most part. A lot of stuff is being told, not really shown (not talking about narration), which does not help with establishing connection with either of the characters. Important topics are often times touched in somewhat cliched ways, too, but life is a cliche in itself, so that's not a failure in itself. It's just that darker themes still were "too bright", too "upbeat".

Perhaps the running time of a movie was the constraint here. The story is spanning multiple years, after all, and on paper it has quite a few situations, that should stir emotions. But due to lack of time there is simply not enough room to build up to them and dramatize them properly. I think it might have worked better as a TV show similar to TV adaptation of "About A Boy", where the story was also not really so much about a boy (contrary to the title), but about him building connection and changing lives of others, including his mother and neighbor.

Alas, that's not what we have. It's not a complete waste of time, but I do no think it delivers, what it set out to.

After three years of delays, "The Unbreakable Boy" was finally released, and I didn't know what to expect. I haven't read the original book or heard about the real-life events that inspired it, which means it could've gone either way. I'm glad that it went in a powerful and entertaining direction.

To start, all of the performances were strong. The core family the movie focuses on is portrayed fantastically and effectively by Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy, Gavin Warren, and especially a phenomenal Jacob Laval as Austin. These characters needed to be believable for this movie to work, and I felt the actors (mostly) succeeded with this task.

Jon Gunn's directing was incredibly inspiring. I don't think it's as ambitious as his previous effort, "Ordinary Angels," but he did an exceptional job making this narrative work. His screenplay also enhances the investment I had in the characters.

With the central plot revolving around Austin, who has brittle bone disease and autism, I can only imagine how difficult it was to portray it. I felt like the team depicted Austin with care, and I learned more about these conditions than I would have, although I understand this is a film. Either way, this movie does a nice job of showcasing how people with autism and brittle bone disease might be considered different, but they can inspire optimism and joy in others. It makes for a feel-good story that moved me.

For the final positive, the pacing was solid. I felt it never drags, and I was always interested in seeing where the story would go next.

Unfortunately, as much as I tried to overlook them, some issues are plain as day.

To start, not to spoil anything, the film isn't concentrated entirely on Austin. It's divided between him and his father, Levi's Scott. Scott faces numerous struggles, one of which is trying to understand Austin. Unfortunately, many moments make Scott incredibly unlikeable. The movie chronicles a potential redemption story for him, but some of his actions distract from what should be a very inspirational story. The opening scene alone should give you an idea of why this is a problem. He's not entirely disagreeable, but several things he does infuriated me, and parents who see this will probably feel the same way.

The other two issues are minimal, more like aspects I have mixed feelings about. A side character in Drew Powell's Joe doesn't justify his existence until halfway through the movie, which is weird. I enjoyed his inclusion, but until that mid-point section, he felt pointless. The other problem is that although it stuck the landing, it happened after three other potential conclusions, which is odd. That's about it for the negatives, thankfully.

It's not perfect, but critics are unjustifiably harsh to "The Unbreakable Boy." Briefly reading into why, I'm baffled that it didn't connect with critics. It contains flaws, but not enough to call it a bad or mediocre movie - far from it.

Technically, the acting, directing, and screenplay make for a 9/10 technical score. Admittedly, one moment contained out-of-place, bad CGI, which took me out of it, but outside of that, nothing's technically wrong with this film.

The enjoyment score: the flaws are hard to ignore, but it remains a delightful time. Therefore, the enjoyment score is a 9/10. It's hard to call it an easy watch, but it's an eye-opening one worth watching!