Rating: 
Summary: Painfully boring...
Review: This film had great stars, but a terrible script. It was so slow and so uneventful. John-Boy and the rest of the Waltons were more exciting than this.This film gets high ratings because it's a pro abortion film. There are only two young girls in this film and they both get abortions for different reasons. The story itself goes no where . No Plot, no memorable lines, no story. Just a real snore. I feel that just about anyone could have written a better coming of age story for this cast. This movie isn't worth the 2 hrs. to keep watching to see if something will happen. Nothing does....
Rating: 
Summary: The Cider House Rules Decaffeinated.
Review: John Irving used to write great books - not many works that belong to a "Modern Fiction" shelf sell in millions. But the novels' inhabitants - the endearing misfits having their clashes with reality - had a very bad time translating into movie characters. Robin Williams as Garp is just a huge tasteless joke. The author's later offerings are less memorable and way too long. They feel stillborn, lifeless, though there are still some glimpses of John Irving we love. I've stopped reading his books with The Son Of The Circus. When a new novel comes out I leaf through it for an hour and put back on the shelf - I'd like to remember the writer in his prime. I had a definite impression that John Irving drifts into obscurity, into the void of artsy vagueness. And all of a sudden I see him clutching the golden guy with a sword, riding the Oscar hypewave. The author made a script out of his last great novel, leaving all the originality behind. What we have now is the simplistic Coming Of Age/Period Piece Hollywood movie that tackle for a couple minutes some serious issues. Michael Cain is good, he delivers "the performance you can always rely on". He is evidently out of his league in this cast. Toby McGuire is a nice young actor, but he seem to have just one facial expression available and the more times he puts it on the less endearing it looks. Evidently, Charlize Theron has not arrived to the stage, where she is no longer required to sell a film with her body - which is perfectly OK with me, but that the-beauty-spreads-across-the-sheets scene looks like a bonus. Well, to make it shorter - I do not regret seeing the movie just as I would not regret skipping it.
Rating: 
Summary: Tobey shines again
Review: I really enjoyed this film; Tobey Maguire is one of my favorite actors and he doesn't disappoint here. I felt real bad tho when Erik Sullivan (Fuzzy) died. He was so cute---you just wanted to pick him up and give him a big hug !!
Rating:
Summary: A story about breaking the rules and finding your own way
Review: Set in an a surprisingly humane orphanage in Maine in the early 1940's, the good doctor who runs it, Michael Caine, delivers babies and also performs abortions, assisted by one of the two dozen orphans, played by tobey Maguire, now grown to manhood. Later, the young man leaves the protectiveness of the orphanage to work in an apple orchard, picking apples with a group of African American apple pickers and learning about the rules that hang on the wall of the cider house. The acting is superb and the story is deep on many levels, dealing the some tough questions of right and wrong. Also, this is the first film I ever saw about an orphanage where the children were not mistreated. I found this refreshing and a new and interesting reality. Some might find this video too moody and sentimental. I didn't. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "The Cider House Rules" is a film maker's dream
Review: ...so is American Beauty, The Ice Storm, and many, many others. But "The Cider House Rules" is simply one films I would make if I had the experience. Beautiful cinematography, amazing score, perfectly cast, great locations, and a simple, yet sometimes complex story to base it upon. Every shot of the film is breathtakingly beautiful. The camera slides with simplicity and perfection, and the picture is colorful and crystal clear. The story is nicely put, and the film's two hours reel by silently and quickly. Tobey Maguire, who was in one of the most amazingly moving movie experiences, The Ice Storm, is back again(after other great films like The Wonder Boys and Pleasantville). He is Homer Wells, son of parents who have no need to take care of him whatsoever, and lend him to a orphanage where Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) takes over. Dr. Larch must be pretty special -- he has had several Wilburs' running about in his orphanage(named by him, of course). Young Homer Wells grows up in the orphanage, and learns a great deal of hospital education through the usual pregencies and illegal abortions preformed at the orphanage. Having spent his entire childhood and up to his teenage years in a baby-giving orphanage, he decides to see some of the world. He must of been really lucky, because of all that he sees is completely beautiful and wonderous. He then goes into an apple farm and meets some nice people there too. Since this movie is mainly about him, the film also has an open ending to which the main character(Homer Wells) is based upon. The film provokes so many good emotions, particularly when Homer returns to the orphanage. It's the best feel-good movie of 1999.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Waaaaay Overrated
Review: Michael Caine won an Oscar for his portrayal of Wilbur Larch, a medical doctor who runs an orphanage in Maine that's also a safe haven for women seeking abortions. Adapted by John Irving from his best-selling novel and directed by Lasse Hallstrom, the film is well-intentioned, exquisitely crafted and a flat-out bore. Though Hallstrom's direction is genuinely artful at times (he also elicits some of the finest performances by children ever put on film), there's no denying that matters all but deaden once Toby McGuire arrives on screen as Larch's grown-up orphan and protégé. An actor who's apparently from the school of less-is-less, McGuire performance is so constricted and so internalized, you almost forget he's there. He's also flatly unbelievable as a romantic interest for Charlize Theron, an accomplished actress and screen beauty who makes McGuire's shortcomings all the more obvious. The film tries to score political points regarding abortion in the midst of it's period story, and though some may regard it as a success in this vein, this is surely one of the more openly racist efforts to come down the Hollywood pike in quite some time (the black characters first appear naked, like animals, and that's just the beginning). Also in the cast, and wasted entirely, are Kathy Baker, Jane Alexander and Kate Nelligan, along with singer Erykah Badu, who manages to make a stirring impression despite her pedantic role.
Rating:
Summary: No plot, but engaging characters.
Review: My biggest problem with this film was the fact that it didn't really have a plot. It was basically a coming of age story, but there was no ultimate goal of the story. True, there was a climax, but there was no building towards it. It just sort of happened. What saved this movie, in my eyes, was the fact that the characters were so well developed and so engaging, that I didn't mind the fact that the story was missing a plot. Michael Caine, Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Delroy Lindo all give brilliant performances. Erykah Badu does an excellent job as the daughter of Delroy Lindo's character. I liked all of these characters and I wanted to see what happened to them. That's how this movie kept my attention. I was surprised at this since, normally, when a movie doesn't have a plot, I lose interest. That was definitely not the case here. It was interesting seeing Tobey Maguire's character learn about the world and interact in his semi-innocent way with those around him. The tragic love story wound into the story was an added level of sophistication in my eyes. A surprisingly enjoyable movie, despite it's shortcomings as a story.
Rating:
Summary: The Cider House DVD Commentary...where is it?
Review: Great film. But I've got one question: I have not been able to access any kind of commentary. I was able to view all the other features, the making of, etc. but for some reason on my DVD there is no running commentary alongside the film. Is anyone else having this problem, or am I the only knucklhead out here who can't figure it out? Please advise. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: best movie ever
Review: I think that this movie was the greatest movie that has ever been made! i loves it so much and on the scale from 1-5 i think that it should be rated as 100!
Rating:
Summary: i never love movies, but i loved this one
Review: i haven't read the book yet -- reading the book first always ruins the movie, but for me, the movie was magical and the characters were so real to me. this will be the first movie i ever buy.
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