Rating: 
Summary: Cute kids outshine this low-budget effort
Review: "I'll Remember April" is a frustratingly uneven film that suffers most from its inability to understand its audience. Very adult themes such as Japanese prison camps and the deaths of family members in WWII are reduced to condescendingly simple moral lessons that seem aimed squarely at young children, although the subject matter will undoubtedly go over their heads. Who exactly is supposed to enjoy this movie? Its most redeeming qualities are its quartet of cute child actors (Haley Joel Osment hardly has a leading role, despite his blatant overbilling on the movie cover) and its willingness to deal with an ugly chapter in American war history, instead of the usual patriotic standpoint. Unfortunately, these qualities are severely undermined by a ludicrous music score which never appropriately matches the action or the tone of the film, a tendency to repeat the same scenes over and over with hardly any variation (especially the father-son dialogues) and an ending that's a huge letdown. In some ways this may be a refreshing departure from traditional Hollywood war epics, but ultimately it's extremely disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Good actors+good plot=good movie!
Review: "I'll Remember April" is a good movie comprised of good actors and a good plot.There is just a slew of good actors: Trevor Morgan (from Barney) , Haley-Joel Osment (from Sixth Sense), Pat Morita (from Karate Kid), and Mark Harmon (from lots of stuff). And the other supporting actors are good too, I especially liked the Japanese boy. I'd have trouble identifying a single protagonist in this movie, it's really a team effort of kids, parents, police and FBI. But even though all the kids have equal roles, all their characters are unique and believable. The plot is simple enough for young kids, yet complex enough for adults. The tension arises when a young Japanese soldier washes ashore in California shortly after Pearl Harbor. He saves one of the boys from drowning. Should they turn him in? Should they protect him? And it's all the more complex because one of the boys family is Japanese and is headed for an internment camp. What is the right thing to do? How will it unfold? What would you do as a kid in this situation? Or as a parent? Like I said, this is a good movie. I'd call it "Hardy Boys-ish" or "Stand By Me-ish" for all the good reasons. Balanced. Good actors. Good acting. Well-directed. Good plot. Complex.
Rating:
Summary: Cute kids outshine this low-budget effort
Review: "I'll Remember April" is a frustratingly uneven film that suffers most from its inability to understand its audience. Very adult themes such as Japanese prison camps and the deaths of family members in WWII are reduced to condescendingly simple moral lessons that seem aimed squarely at young children, although the subject matter will undoubtedly go over their heads. Who exactly is supposed to enjoy this movie? Its most redeeming qualities are its quartet of cute child actors (Haley Joel Osment hardly has a leading role, despite his blatant overbilling on the movie cover) and its willingness to deal with an ugly chapter in American war history, instead of the usual patriotic standpoint. Unfortunately, these qualities are severely undermined by a ludicrous music score which never appropriately matches the action or the tone of the film, a tendency to repeat the same scenes over and over with hardly any variation (especially the father-son dialogues) and an ending that's a huge letdown. In some ways this may be a refreshing departure from traditional Hollywood war epics, but ultimately it's extremely disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Cute kids outshine this low-budget effort
Review: "I'll Remember April" is a frustratingly uneven film that suffers most from its inability to understand its audience. Very adult themes such as Japanese prison camps and the deaths of family members in WWII are reduced to condescendingly simple moral lessons that seem aimed squarely at young children, although the subject matter will undoubtedly go over their heads. Who exactly is supposed to enjoy this movie? Its most redeeming qualities are its quartet of cute child actors (Haley Joel Osment hardly has a leading role, despite his blatant overbilling on the movie cover) and its willingness to deal with an ugly chapter in American war history, instead of the usual patriotic standpoint. Unfortunately, these qualities are severely undermined by a ludicrous music score which never appropriately matches the action or the tone of the film, a tendency to repeat the same scenes over and over with hardly any variation (especially the father-son dialogues) and an ending that's a huge letdown. In some ways this may be a refreshing departure from traditional Hollywood war epics, but ultimately it's extremely disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Good actors+good plot=good movie!
Review: "I'll Remember April" is a good movie comprised of good actors and a good plot. There is just a slew of good actors: Trevor Morgan (from Barney) , Haley-Joel Osment (from Sixth Sense), Pat Morita (from Karate Kid), and Mark Harmon (from lots of stuff). And the other supporting actors are good too, I especially liked the Japanese boy. I'd have trouble identifying a single protagonist in this movie, it's really a team effort of kids, parents, police and FBI. But even though all the kids have equal roles, all their characters are unique and believable. The plot is simple enough for young kids, yet complex enough for adults. The tension arises when a young Japanese soldier washes ashore in California shortly after Pearl Harbor. He saves one of the boys from drowning. Should they turn him in? Should they protect him? And it's all the more complex because one of the boys family is Japanese and is headed for an internment camp. What is the right thing to do? How will it unfold? What would you do as a kid in this situation? Or as a parent? Like I said, this is a good movie. I'd call it "Hardy Boys-ish" or "Stand By Me-ish" for all the good reasons. Balanced. Good actors. Good acting. Well-directed. Good plot. Complex.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story with wonderful acting
Review: "I'll Remember April" is one of the most uplifting movies I've ever seen. We learn enough about the characters to actually care about them, especially the lead character Duke Cooper(who is portrayed brilliantly by one of the best child actors around,Trevor Morgan,who has a wide range as an actor)and his best friend Willy.I give praise to the writers and everyone who worked on this film.This is truly a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, should have been much better
Review: Actually, I rate this movie 3 1/2 stars, but that isn't an option here, so I'll give it 3 stars plus a thumbs up. Most of what the other customer reveiwers had to say was true, though a bit exagerated in a few cases. I do disagree with much of what the Amazon reveiwer, Bruce Reid, had to say. For example, as to the kids' over-repeating their moral indignation. When real kids get something this big on their minds (they learn that their Japanese/American buddy and his family are to be sent to an internment camp) they are like a broken record! If anything, this is understated, not overstated. Another place Reid is wrong is about the musical score. It does no hammering at all. In fact, it happens to be Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, for the most part, and seems quite appropriate. The film's bright spot is its young stars, and it is no stretch to call these four kids stars, because they surely do shine. They are all good actors, and I must say that I was most surprised and impressed by Trevor Morgan, who left me cold in The Sixth Sense as an antagonist. Here he is not only a protagonist but the central character in the story, and the difference in his performance is remarkable. He is very natural most of the time, but this, especially with kids, has a lot to do with the writing, which I'm sorry to say is so spotty and irregular that it swiftly becomes the Achilles heel of this movie. At times, though, the writing combines delightfully with the superb natural acting of the boys (if indeed it is acting rather than just these four kids being their natural selves with the dialog given them). Their best scene is near the beginning, when the four of them fling themselves onto the bed and read a letter sent to Duke (Trevor Morgan) by his brother Anthony, who is a soldier seeing action in the War. They laugh and giggle and wiggle and hang upside down, all the while making comments that are so natural that the whole scene could have been entirely ad-libbed. However, this level of dialog does not hold up, and there are times when the overall quality of the movie in all respects seems to be wavering at the edge of an abyss. Fortunately, it never goes over the edge, and we are rewarded in the end with an overall favorable experience. You can poke fun at the story all day long, but in the end it must be said that there is more than enough that is good in this movie to place it a notch above the usual "kids save the world" children's adventure story. I titled this review, "Good, should have been much better." I'll stick with that. The kid actors are so good, in fact, that they alone are able to carry the movie, even towards the end when their dialog occasionally borders on the insipid and jarring. You go along thinking one minute you're watching a film that will be among your all-time faves, and the next minute wondering what in the world the writer(s) and director could have been thinking of! It's something of a roller coaster ride. So, what's the bottom line? This "kids save the world" movie is okay and well worth watching. ...Except that in this case the kids not only saved the world, but the movie too!
Rating:
Summary: Ironic Timliness
Review: At a time when we are comparing Pearl Harbor with 911, and the treatment of Afganisganians living here with that of the Japanese Americans in WW2, to accidently come upon such a delightful portrayal came as a surprise to me. I had never heard of it before, but bought it because I noticed the actors and the fair price and took a gamble on it. This should be re released!!!!! It would be a smash. Children can leaarn a gentle lesson of what went on at that time and perhaps relate it to our present situation. I don't often find such a jewel...
Rating:
Summary: tjs is a movie
Review: i like this movie becaUSE IT is a good movie. haley joel osment is just like Billy Gilman-a critic's dream is to see a good movie like this one because it is good.
Rating:
Summary: tjs is a movie
Review: i like this movie becaUSE IT is a good movie. haley joel osment is just like Billy Gilman-a critic's dream is to see a good movie like this one because it is good.
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