Rating: 
Summary: A spiritual awakening
Review: This film is indeed different than A Prayer For Owen Meany but I knew that when I rented the movie. It is excellent on its own. I completely disagree that Simon was shallow--he's one of the most complex characters I've seen in years. See this movie!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Do yourself a favor and read the book!
Review: I realize books don't always come out well on film, but this still only gets two stars. This movie started out okay - Simon and Joe are cute, and it's fun in a Wonder Years kind of way. There's a slow section after Ashley Judd dies, then things pick up with a very funny Christmas pageant scene. Right after the pageant, however, the film sinks into the worst kind of melodrama. All the spiritual questions that made the book ("A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving) so interesting are completely absent. The book asked what fate was, whether fate came from God, and showed how faith fits in a person's life, even if that faith itself is making his life hard. The movie skips all that and goes straight for the garbage - little kids in peril, with heroic Simon saving them, then dying (*cough cough*) in the hospital as his best friend weeps by the bed. Simon might as well have been a heroic German Shepard; he's got the same depth of spirituality. Do yourself a favor! Skip the movie and instead buy a copy of "A Prayer for Owen Meany" from the book section of Amazon. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: This is a fantactic movie
Review: This movies help parents like me with disable children to see that they can be what they want to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating film with a message.
Review: Simon Birch may be the best example of a film that can speak to the general public about issues that it ignores in everyday life. Simon's steadfast belief that God had a purpose for him is inspiring and should remind us to look for purpose in our own lives. Simon's philosophy that his small stature has a purpose, is refreshing in that he chooses to regard this as God's gift to him instead of an abnormality which is how others see it. The character of Joe's mother is not well developed though she is clearly the only adult in the film that understands Simon's gift and what a gift he is to her. Joe, her son, on the other hand is a weak theist who would like to believe in God, but requires proof of God first. It isn't until Simon completes his mission that Joe finds his discernment and has a "conversion experience". Joe grows up to be a person of faith, after the example of Simon who was and is a person of complete faith. People complain about the character of Simon because he is outspoken and rude to adults, but what Simon really does is call those people to answer for their mediocrity and half-heartedness. Simon is just like any other twelve year old boy. It is his so-called handicap and people's preconceived notions about how people with disabilities should act that makes people think he should act differently. This, in my opinion, is more of a window into each person's personal prejudices and assumptions about others than it is a condemnation of the screenwriters. I liked this film on the whole. I thought there were parts of the storyline that were not well fleshed out and I found some of the adult characters less complete than they could have been, but this was not terribly detrimental to movie.
Rating:
Summary: The best child acting I've seen in a long while!
Review: Joe Mazzello acting as Joe was displaying the same amazing talent as he did in Jurassic Park and The Cure and Ian Michael Smith preformed perfectly as the dwarf Simon Birch! An amazing, spiritual film. I still don't understand why the critics hated it so mch. Maybe they're all non-religious! Who knows. But this film is an awesome A+!!
Rating:
Summary: You Have To See This Movie
Review: I thought the movie was going to be dumb. I was so wrong! I laughed, I cried! You have to see it!
Rating:
Summary: a spiritual awakening
Review: Simon Birch is the most amazing,spiritual, and thought provoking movie that I have seen in a long,long time! It has an innocent and gentle deliverance and at the same time, it outraged me in such a way that I had a hard time feeling any compassion for the human race. It is a lesson about acceptance,tolerance,kindness,love,and spirituality. Simon Birch is the essence of how we should all view life and he has taught me what it means to really have a spiritual connection with whatever it is that I believe in!
Rating:
Summary: A Blockbuster in my mind
Review: This movie is riveting. I rented and watched it twice in the same night. The movie shows the humanity and what one boy's idea of religion is. An excellent movie for all to see
Rating:
Summary: I thought the movie SIMON BIRCH was inspiring-
Review: well there is alot I could say about this movie. I've always wanted to see it because it was a story not only about emotions but it is a story that I myself can relate to as a 13 year old boy. It was not only sad and heartwarming but the movie had a nice lesson in it. Not to Judge people the way they look. The movie also was funny and some of the parts were great. I saw the movie 2 times and liked it a lot so i give it 5 stars easily.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible movie--don't miss it
Review: this movie is a wonderful movie, it teaches us to "not judge a book by its cover" Simon is small but he has the biggest heart. And he proves it, that's for sure. (Wonderful family movie)
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