ultrahornetchaser I had to read A Prayer for Owen Meany for AP English, and we watched this movie in class. We have a seminar coming soon that asks "Why do you think John Irving didn't want the name of his book to be attached to this movie?" If you both read the book and watched the movie, it's pretty easy to see why...Basically, the movie trivializes the most important parts of the book, or just doesn't include them at all (where are the three cousins???) The scene where Joe's mom is killed by Simon's baseball is almost laughable because of how cheesy it is, what with its slow motion and everyone's shocked expressions. The scene with the bus crash is even worse because of how...unrealistic it is. There's an entire scene about how Simon can hold his breath for an unnaturally long time, yet he couldn't make it out of the bus when it went under? Really? Owen's death scene in the book (which is completely different from the one in the movie, aside from the fact that he was saving a group of children in both of them) was emotional and literally tied the ENTIRE story together. This, though...it asks more questions than it answers.Adding on to the cheesiness, the kid that plays Joe is a really, REALLY bad actor, and I just can't take him seriously, especially when he acts sad about finding out who his father is or when Simon gets out of the bus. However, the kid that played Simon did a very good job and made for a pretty memorable character. Really, the only other roles in the movie with good actors were the Sunday school teacher and Joe's mother.The only reason this gets more than a 1 is because the movie does have some pretty funny parts, mostly the Christmas pageant scene. Overall though, this really isn't a good movie. It might be okay if you watch it alone, but it simply has nothing on the book. If you liked the movie, I guarantee you that the book is 100 times better.

inthequietsecretnight This movie is based on the John Irving novel A Prayer for Owen Meany. It's a somewhat sappy but wonderful story about miracles and destiny, faith and doubt. It's three kids coming of age story, one of them very odd and special. It is well worth reading. Most of all it explores the mystery of life and how we perceive it and maybe whether that perception is even our choice (in our hands) or not. If my memory serves, the movie focuses on a small part of the book, I think a bus crash. This technique can work well in film as so often there's too much book to cover in a couple hours. One of my favorite examples of taking a tiny part of a novel and making a good film of it is Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis. That was a great movie, it felt like the book and Anthony Hopkins was just right.Simon Birch, it's poop. My understanding is that John Irving asked to have his name and reference to the novel removed from the movies credits. I don't blame him. Somehow I sat through most of the movie but near the end, during Jim Carey's soliloquy, when some people in the theater were actually crying for that hack job of a flick, I got up and walked out. I walked out of one of those doors at the side of the screen and made sure to let a little light shine in as I left, hoping to wake up those crying idiots. Maybe that was rude but what I wanted to do was shout, "read the effing book!!!"That's my advice to you, read the book. Hell, you'd be more entertained reading the Cliff Notes (do those still exist? I never read 'em, figure those are for people who cry during crappy movies) for it. Do not watch Simon Birch. And if you did and are somehow under the belief that it's a good movie, READ THE BOOK!!! Simon Birch, I hate that movie.

Baron Ronan Doyle Having seen, and been somewhat dissatisfied with, The Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp, I was, as I've previously remarked on this very site, pretty much convinced that the novels of John Irving are inherently unfilmable. Simon Birch, billed as "suggested by" A Prayer for Owen Meany—my favourite Irving, and perhaps even favourite novel—is so titled at Irving's request, so different he felt were the stories.Showing the titular character's grave at the film's beginning, Simon Birch follows its namesake from birth to death. Extremely small, shrilly-voiced, and devoutly religious, Simon believes himself to be "God's instrument", put upon the earth in his unusual form for a distinct purpose.Firstly, I feel the need to vent. What is it with Irving adaptations and this horrid reliance on saccharine music? It's so bloody cliché it makes me want to weep with frustration, tear my hair out, and howl for hours. Now that that's said, shall we move on? Commendations firstly to star and one time actor Ian Michael Smith, who delivers a convincing, humorous, and persuasive performance as the zealous young Simon. Indeed the entire cast is solidly... well, cast. A special mention is reserved for Oliver Platt, whose character's original literary basis was a favourite who seemed misrepresented at first, but was eventually realised well in Platt's performance—a considerable task I assure you. It's not difficult to see why Irving declined to permit the usage of his character's names, the plot taking a complete turn about halfway through the film. This turn makes sense, given the time restrictions of a feature film compared to a novel, though it leaves the former considerably less impactful than the latter. The movie offers a story which moves steadily forward, honouring the book for as long as the two overlap. The relationship between the young characters at the film's heart is well appropriated, Joe's fondness for his minuscule friend articulated through the nuances of their dialogue as well as the actors' respective performances. It's in the last act of the film that it loses itself, the inevitable foreseen incident—beautifully constructed in the novel—poorly brought to fruition. One understands the reason behind changing the ending to this, but it ought to have been handled with much more grace. Plot holes emerge, grow, and eventually suck the film into them, so distracting are they from the poignancy of the drama. Yet, that said, the drama loses poignancy all of its own at this point anyway. The ending—I am permitted to reveal it is Simon's death; the film begins with a shot of his gravestone including dates—feels shoved in to align with the book. I found myself wondering why exactly the boy had died, no sufficiently decent reason offered by the film. The ending places a severe blemish on the rest of the film, marred particularly in no small part due to the final overly sentimental return to the graveside.Starting out well, inasmuch as it follows more or less exactly the book's path, Simon Birch shows promise of a decent childhood drama. It maintains this facade for some time, before the ending finally exposes it for the lacking piece it—rather unfortunately—is. There is a gaping chasm of narrative quality between the two halves, no doubt the result of adapting just half a book; the latter section demonstrating wildly its inferior writing. Nevertheless, the film has its merits, for which it is worthy of viewing and appreciation.

gpeevers The story is set in small town New England of the early 1960's and tells the story of an underdeveloped boy named Simon (Ian Michael Smith) and his unwavering faith that god has made him the way he is for some special purpose. His best friend Joe (Joseph Mazello) just wants to discover the identity of his father. This is nominally a story about small town life and growing up, but it's also about faith, religion and a number of other themes (though apparently not all the themes were found in the novel).Simon Birch manages to be atmospheric and mystical and also quite funny at times though it is unquestionably a dramatic film with some tragic elements.We get a pair of good performances from Ashley Judd as Joe's mother and Oliver Platt who plays a drama teacher with an interest in Joe's mother, it's a bit of a departure for Platt but its nice to see him in a role with a romantic interest. The two boys are also quite effective in their roles. Some of the supporting performances are less effective; David Straithairn who I usually enjoy comes across as wooden and Jan Hooks performance as the Sunday school teacher kept reminding me of her work on Saturday Night Live. Although it's a very small role Jim Carrey is also effective in one of his first dramatic film roles, he is also the narrator.According to the credits the film is suggested by the book "A Prayer from Owen Meaney" by John Irving, this was done at the request of the author because either the film only covered a small part of the 600 page novel or because they only bear a passing resemblance to one another. The author also requested the name change of the title character which necessitated the title change as well.The film was written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson who for the most part has stuck to comic book adaptations since this film.While this could be a film for the whole family (the film was rated PG) it might be little to emotionally charged for children.