everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"Edges of the Lord" is a mixed bag for a movie with pluses and minuses. The reviews I've read on it so far comment on just one aspect of the film. And, I can't tell if many of them got a very subtle point of the plot. Because of some of the film's weaknesses, I couldn't get as absorbed in it as I would normally for a story of this type. Three aspects of the film stand out most to me. I'll comment on each one after a thumbnail overview of the story line. Haley Joel Osment plays Romek, a Jewish boy of 11 in 1939 when the Germans invade Poland at the start of WW II. His parents quickly try to train him in some prayers of the Catholic faith. They have found a peasant Catholic family living in the country who will take him in to save him from the Nazis. His parents were going to try to escape on their own. Romek's new family has two boys. One is about a year older than him – Vladek, played by Richard Banel. The other is younger, about seven – Tolo, played by Liam Hess. Their small hamlet has a priest, played by Willem Dafoe. These are the main characters. There are other characters of course, and as the story moves along, we see everyone and the various incidents as through the eyes of Romek. And, that is key, because it's a story about a boy who was raised Jewish and in a city now being thrust into and experiencing a very different culture. I don't want to give away the ending, but it's the crux of the film, along with Romek's survival. Romek expresses his thanks for these people who didn't try to make him something he wasn't. Now, that's the story and the message.This type of thing was repeated many times and in many places in Europe, so that Jewish people could be hidden and spared from the Nazi pogrom. One of the best movies that shows this on a broad scale is "The Assisi Underground." That was a true story, based on a book and produced by the author, a Jewish journalist who arrived at Assisi with the Allies during the war. There are other very good movies like this as well. On the message level, this film is very good. And, the acting is very good by the entire cast – the Polish extras and bit players included. The problems with the film are mostly with the screenplay, the directing and editing. Some specific strong points are scenes of the boys watching the trains at night that are transporting Jews to death camps. Some of the people escape from the trains, and the Nazis hunt them down. We hear shouts in the distance and gunshots. One of the older boys preys on fleeing people for any valuables or good clothing they may still have. Other scenes add to the main plot. The boys see the priest try to catch pigs in order to save the lives of an elderly farm couple who had been hiding pigs. Of course he can't catch the pigs, and the Nazi officers get a good laugh at his futile attempts and rolling on the ground. They then shoot the woman and then the man in the head. The scenes of the priest instructing the children are part of the main plot, as are those with Romek and the priest as he explains Holy Communion to Romek. So far, so good. But, then there are several other scenes that are extraneous to the story. These unnecessary sub-plots distract one from the main story. Several of these are about extreme behaviors on the part of the young Tolo, having to do with religion. He wears a cap under which he has made a type of crown of thorns. He asks his brother and Romek to tie him to a tree as if to be crucified. Toward the end, Tolo identifies himself with the Jews on the train. He denies being the brother of Vladek, and the Nazis put him on the death train. What that has to do with the story, I don't know. Was it an effort to mock religion?The editing of the movie with these and other unrelated scenes woven in is not very fluid. So, the film is hackneyed and confusing. It distracts from the main focus. The playing and pranks of the children go on too long. A drunken neighbor peasant who later kills the father of the boys is a distraction. And, toward the end, we see nothing of reaction by the mother or village over Tolo's leaving on the train. This film is hardly in the tradition of "Life is Beautiful." It has a good premise – to show that there were good people in Poland, including Catholic clergy, who risked their lives to help save Jews. And, as in this case, without requiring or forcing cultural or religious changes on the Jews. If this movie had stuck to that without the several mini-plots that it veers off into at times, it could have been much better– perhaps even a great film. But, as it is, the diversions, distractions, choppy script, weak direction and poor editing take too much away from the impact this film might otherwise have had.

I found Edges Of The Lord to be a very touching and moving film! This film really unsettled me but that's what I loved about the film it really keeps you hooked and wondering what happens next. Haley Joel Osment really proves he has a lot of acting talent! His acting performance was absolutely outstanding. All the way through the film his acting performance just kept showing how talented he really is. His performance in Edges Of The Lord was really touching and I found myself in tears over how realistic he was in this role! His accent was also perfect in this film. Willem Dafoe also gave a great performance he brought his character to life just like Haley Joel Osment did.I overall am going to give this film a 10/10 it's unmissable it's one of the best, moving, touching on the edge of your seat war films I have ever seen! Everything about this film was just so realistic from the acting to the setting and the costumes. I totally recommend this film to anyone who loves a war film. Please be aware this is definitely not a children's film! This film even had me in tears by the end.

This is one of Haley's best movies, and I've seen most of his work. I had low expectations, when I started to watch this movie. Needless to say Edges of the Lord exceeded my expectations greatly. The acting in this movie was great. I felt the pains of the characters, as they lived their lives in the darkest days of WWII Poland. I loved the performance of young Liam Hess, he made this movie what it was, by the end of movie you will love him. If you haven't seen this movie yet, go out and find it,trust me by the end of the movie you will find yourself where I am now, writing to tell others how good this film was. If you are a Haley Joel fan this is on of his, hidden treasures. He played a part that I would have never pictured him in, and as usual he put the movie over the top. I just can't say enough about the cast of young actors in this film, all that is left to says is go ahead and rent or buy this movie.

"Edges of the Lord" tells of a young Jewish boy (Osment) who is sent to live in a rural village in Poland to escape the holocaust where he is schooled in Christianity by the local priest (Dafoe) and falls in with a group of pre and post pubescent kids. Full of filler and painfully slow moving at times, there's little meat on the bones of this film which gathers momentum past the halfway mark with some dramatic elements including a rape and a showdown with Nazis. However, the drama is underdone, too little too late. and poorly integrated. Most will find "Edges of the Lord" too slow. However, sentimentalists and others who can make the buy-in to this marginal story of children surviving under the pall of war will find the film an entertaining watch. Recommended for hanky ringers, sentimentalists, and others into films about children. (B-)