Once in a Blue Moon

I remembered seeing this as a kid back in the 90's, and it just stuck with me. In retrospect, it seems like a perfect blend of Bridge to Teribithia level friendship and adventure that you'd imagine at that age, and after having taken another look at it recently, I realized that's exactly what it was... a silly adventure and story told with low and high points. I remember writing stories just like it at 8 or 9.

I suspect this would hold up for any youngster at that age of they needed an hour and a half to burn on a trip or rainy afternoon.

As for me, I'm off to the moon.

If there's one theme of this film, it's that people can cope with hardship by having a good imagination. This family is poor, their father works graveyard, and their mother works double-shifts, and Peter is constantly picked on for a variety of reasons, and becomes increasingly frustrated that he is often mistaken for a girl. He is just starting to approach that age of 10 or 11 where your perceptions start to change, and thinks like your appearance start to matter. The backdrop of this story is the 1967 World's Fair and the Centennial of Canada. The film's greatest moments come during the various fantasy sequences where we see just how they cope. Watch the flim, and if you've ever had a childhood friend that you dreamt with, and then for some reason, lost, you'll really like this film. Perhaps kids will like this film, but only adults will truly appreciate it, including its references to bolshevik's and what parent's will do for their children.

This delightful film is often overlooked due to it's Canadian origins. However young Serpa more than makes up for any doubts you might have. Serpa shines as the imaginative youngster who takes his stern father's old motorcycle and a few spare parts from a nearby junkyard and builds every kid's dream come true. With a little help from his foster brother, (Baker) he gets the neighborhood bully involved in his project as an unwitting guinea pig. From there the plan goes according to schedule, with the bully chickening out in the end and Baker taking his place to the admiration and surprise of the other neighborhood children. The deaf older sister is very good, and adds a dimension of humanity and emotional depth this comedy might otherwise lack. But it's Cody Serpa who carries the film all the way. The parental figures, Milligan and MacDonald are just window dressing. The story is well told, and amply supplied with laughs and even a few tears. I loved it, my kids loved it, and even their grandfather enjoyed the film. Definitely worth seeing. May even teach kids there is nothing wrong with imagination, as long as it is coupled with ingenuity and hard work. I give it a 6.5 and I hope to see young Cody Serpa in another film.

"Once in a Blue Moon" is an obscure comedy-fantasy-drama that is aimed for mostly children. Your children most likely missed this one when it played in theaters (if it played in theaters), but they are given several opportunities to view it as it comes on such cable movie stations as HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc. Will they like it? Hard to tell...the kids in the movies are pretty sweet. There is Peter Piper(what's the point of giving a character such a stupid name?), a sensitive, artistic little boy(I think the kids are about ten), who is blessed with "delicate" features, and longish curly hair. To add to this, his family hasn't a lot of money, so Peter must wear the hand-me-downs of his older sister to school each day(attire includes red bell bottom pants and a puffy "peasant style" shirt with pretty red flowers--what kind of a mother is this?). Needless to say, he is somewhat of a social outcast, but lucky for him, a friend comes along, an interesting, Indian(Native American, but this was set in the late 60's or early 70's or something, and they didn't call him that) kid called Sam Cardinal. Peter and Sam bond instantly, and together they play each day, outsmart the (utterly annoying)town bully and some other meanies that tease them. During one of these teasings, they decide to build a rocket ship, and well, they do(since this is a fantasy film and all). Interesting stuff happens during their build and after, that kids could get into, but it's a vaguely dim-witted story and some parts of it are just mind-boggling. For instance, each and every fantasy sequence is not explained, so it plain does not make sense(a husband and wife embrace, and the husband reaches into the sky and pulls down and twinkling star...and they go onto the next scene.)Also some scenes are tossed in without much effect(Children in a school literally laugh at Peter and elude him for no appearant reason, making him resort to the solitude of color a picture while "Classical Gas" plays beautifully in the background...and then they go onto the next scene)and some scenes with the bully and such other supporting characters lower the intelligence level of this film. All in all, it's passable entertainment, if nothing else.

I've never seen a Canadian movie before but after seeing this one...I'm kinda skeptical as to if I'll ever watch one again. This ranks up there with one of the strangest movies I've ever seen. Maybe if you're REALLY drunk one night and don't care what's on TV, it'll be entertaining...but even then who knows.