Alabama Moon

I got the job of picking the Friday night movie for us to watch with our two boys. Alabama Moon turned out to be a great choice.

Although our youngest drifted off about halfway through, our 9 year-old was enthralled with the adventure story. Moreover, although the themes of death, anti- government sentiment and the realities of survivalism were treated fairly lightly, the movie triggered a few insightful questions from the kids - an indication that the level of the movie was perfectly pitched at their level of understanding and ability to deal with serious issues. A bit like Moon himself, really.

Of course there was corn and humour bordering on slapstick (the Constable is a caricature of the mean lawman), but it's right at home in a gentle family film like this. And if you want your kids to gain some deeper insight into what real friendship means, look no further than Moon and Kit.

I don't know how I missed it, I should have watched it earlier when it came. This is the movie, kinda my style, I love to watch without time barriers in any given time. As a children and emotional movie fan, I love it when both of them come together. Yes, I enjoyed this movie a lot than my friends who saw with me.

A cute story with the bunch of cute kids who gave their soul to fill the fictional characters they played. This movie was based on the book of the same name and crafted by the director of one of my favourite children movie 'Secondhand Lions'.

The movie had some flaws, I mean some serious flaws. In the opening where the Moon's father was trapped in a fallen tree that was leaning across the river was looked clearly a fake. Like that there were many others in the movie that resists us not to believe in what we see. Despite those defects rest were very pleasing to watch especially those location of Alabama.

This movie was good as the recent 'Standing Up' unfortunately both of them were not recognised largely. All I say is don't miss if you get a chance to see it, especially with your niece and nephew. If you are a children movie fan probably you would love it. I heard there was a book called 'Dirty Road Home', a sequel to this movie (book) was written by the same writer. The movie based on it is in production now, I could not wait so long for it.

Alabama Moon is a lovable movie, as long as you can remember what's being a child and dreaming about a grand forest adventure, living off nature, standing by yourself, dodge bullies, defy all odds and make some great friends in the process.

It is, as well, a film about dead, losing and moving on, in life. So fun? yes, simple? ditto, addressed to children? spot on, simplistic? no, I don't think so, the answers Alabama Moon gives to the great questions of life might be simple, perhaps too simple for an adult, but in a world who dodges anything related to death and loss a film that raised this question should not be easily forgotten.

Watch with your 11 years old heart on.

This film was exactly the type of film I guessed it would be from the trailer , a very simple family drama and there is nothing wrong with that , in fact I do like that sort of films for time to time. The story is pretty straightforward a kid living alone with his environmentalist father has to learn to go back to civilization once his dad dies of an infection of the leg. The kid goes into a jail for children were he makes his very first friends , bust out with them , fight the creepy sergeant who's always after him and learn to let go of the burden his late father had inflected upon him. All in all this film is pretty much 50 per cent drama and 50 per cent kids film, seriously , if it would have had the Disney logo attached to it , it would have been a perfect fit for the studio.The film is absolutely harmless.It shy away from how serious this peculiar subject could have been to favor more of a kids adventure format. There are scenes that are quite far fetched and the villain of the piece (Played by Ron Howard's brother) feels like he came out straight from a cartoon. At no time during that film I felt that something bad would happen to young Alabama and I just sat and enjoyed watching his journey unfold. It's not Oscar worthy by any stretch of the imagination, it's just a cute little film that you would have fun watching on a rainy day with your kids (whom I believe would love it). There are nice little touches like John Goodman (Always great to see him),the character of Kitt who's quite endearing and the young Jimmy Bennett who does a decent job as Alabama even if it's not as strong of a performance as the one he has given in "Trucker" ( By the way if you are really looking for a real serious drama who pulls no punches I would recommend this film instead). All I can say is I liked it , I don't think anyone who will watch this film will dislike it because there is nothing to dislike. The only problem I have with the film is the last 5 minutes is a bit much on the corny side and feels like it was taken from an episode of "The Waltons" but at the same time it fits the rest of the film. My Verdict : Kid friendly Drama that entertain without offering anything major to think about for adult viewers.Your kids (especially boys , will probably love it for it's adventure element) 6 out of 10.

I really enjoyed this film. Not a complex story, per se, but smart acting. Moon is such a great character, and the focus on friendship and human interaction, and love is great. Watch this.