Rating: 
Summary: predictable but enjoyable
Review: Well, you could see the ending coming from about 1000 miles away, but the characters (both the kids and adults) made the whole movie very watchable. My problem with this movie (besides the predictability) was that it couldn't seem to decide whether it was a comedy or a tragedy. Perhaps that was the intention, but it didn't work for me. I was enjoying the movie as kind of a light-hearted slice-of-life tale until the incident where one of the characters is killed by a fly-ball foul hit by the diminutive Simon. That's right -- the high foul hits the unsuspecting character in the head, and the character dies right there. Now, I saw that as a comedic moment, because people don't typically die after being struck in the head by a high foul off the bat of someone with the stature of Simon Birch. Unfortunately, this event was intended to be a tragedy. But really, it's just too bizarre to work. See what you think. Anyway, that event made the whole movie unbelievable for me. But it was fun to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! IT SHOULD RECEIVE NEGATIVE STARS!
Review: As an enormous fan of 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' (the novel by John Irving that this movie was 'inspired by'), I found this film to be an outright massacre of one of my favorite works of fiction. It takes a poignant and powerful story and turns it into over-simplified dribble. Read the book. Skip this waste of celluloid.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensational
Review: From the day he was born, Simon Birch was different. No bigger than a baby bird, doctors predicted he would never last the night. But he did. Then they said he would never last a week. But he did. Eventually, Simon grew into a little boy, fortified by the staunch belief that God had made him small for a reason, that God not only had a special plan for him but that he was going to be a hero. His story is related by a narrator, Simon's best friend as a child, now grown-up. We only see him twice - at the beginning and at the end - but it's this character, played with incredibly sensitivity by Jim Carrey (who curiously gets no screen credit) that bookends the narrative. Veteran screenwriter and now first-time director Mark Steven Johnson has created a cinematic fable, suggested by John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany." Since the story begins in a graveyard in Gravestown, Maine, by the tombstone of "Simon Birch," we know that the pivotal character died at the age of 12, so the only dramatic tension revolves around when, where, and how this tragedy occurred. The problem with the structure of the film is that it's so obviously melodramatic and manipulative. In the title role, Ian Michael Smith, who is afflicted with a rare enzyme disorder, Morquio Syndrome, compensates for his "vertical challenge" with a truly magical display of talent. And Joseph Mazzello delivers a truly remarkable performance as Simon's best friend (the young Jim Carrey) whose single mother, played by Ashley Judd, refuses to reveal the name of his father, thus providing the curious boys with an ongoing mystery. Oliver Platt and David Straithairn provide stalwart support
Rating: 
Summary: simon birch
Review: This was an excellent family movie, a real tear jerker
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This movie is one the best movies I've seen in a LONG time. I totally reccomend it!
Rating:
Summary: great movie...but the book was better
Review: i thought this movie was really good. I rented it because the book its based on, A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving (everyone should read this book), is my favorate book of all time. The movie does a good job of putting a 600 page book into 2 hours, while cutting out most of those pages, but keeping the same focus, and overall feeling. i highly recomend it...the only thing i would change, is i would have taken simon and joe through high school like in the book with Owen (the simon character) and john (the joe character).
Rating:
Summary: One to buy!
Review: Great family movie. No sex, drugs or violence. Just a great story-line and solid acting.
Rating:
Summary: DEFINITE SPIFFNESS
Review: I REALLY LIKED THIS MOVIE. AS A YOUNG ACTOR MYSELF I CAN SAY THOSE KIDS WERE GREAT. I KNOW DRAMA'S ARE HARD AND THE WHOLE CAST DID GREAT.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent excellent excellent!
Review: My children and I love this movie. People always say that Hollywood should make more movies like this. Well, here it is!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies I've ever seen!
Review: A wonderful story about a little, (very little), boy who knows that God made him small for a reason. He finally figures out that reason when his sunday school goes on a field trip to the snow. Simon Birch is a story of courage and bravery. I HIGHLY recommend it to others.
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