Good movie but grossly overrated

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

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

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I found this movie very moving and well worth watching. Incredibly well executed by a first time director. Don't miss it!

I watched this movie on video after following the Project Greenlight HBO series on television and I was absolutely amazed at how good this movie was and how amazing the acting was. It's a shame that this film did not have the money to promote it when it was released because in my opinion this an Oscar-worthy film. Everyone in this film nails their roles and pulls you in. Adi Stein nails his role as the main character, a second grader named Peter O' Malley who is on a quest in "converting the jews" in an effort to help jews get into heaven. This plot line might make some people shutter but I can promise you that due to beautiful direction, this is handled tactfully by being presented through an innocent view of a second grader. Kevin Pollak is simply amazing in his role as the sincere yet humorous rabi who assists our main character Pete by guiding the young Pete in his quest and perhaps getting Pete to asks some questions of himself and the world. Bonnie Hunt and Aiden Quinn who play the parents of Pete O' Malley are flawless in their roles and I can attest from my childhood that they are spot-on playing the Irish Catholic parents. It's worth it to watch this movie based on the brilliant directing and incredible acting alone but throw in a humorous, heart-warming and emotional story and you have a very Oscar-worthy movie that will always be one of my all-time favorite movies, right up there with Shawshank Redemption.

I thought that this movie was wonderful. Sure, you can tell that there wasn't a huge budget but it got it's point across. I thought that it's story line was not only great but believable. I think that it is a movie that everyone should watch. It will show you that people are people no matter what religion. Maybe if everyone saw it, there wouldn't be so much hate in this country. Pete's lesson is a great one for us all to learn.

At first, I thought it was a really cute movie. Then I caught the theme....... any differences between Judiasm and Catholicism were either portrayed as bigotry, or were smoothed over, or were childish misunderstandings. Such as the "decathalon" to "earn" the privilege of Holy Communion. At first the misunderstandings were kind of cute, I guess, showing how the adults don't really stop to listen to the children, but it got extremely irritating, as it went on and on... and the misunderstandings just got worse and worse, to the point of "cute" blasphemy.Finally, at the end, the boy talks with his father, who comforts him by telling him that just like any father, God would welcome "Even an Eskimo who never heard of Him, as long as he lived a good life" - when the boy then (naturally) asks what use is it then to be Christian, the father has no real answer. Later the boy tells his friend the Rabbi that while on his "quest" he's figured out that Jesus is "just a symbol", and that it doesn't really matter if you pray to Jesus or not, because it doesn't matter which name you use, and suggests he use the name of Danny, the rabbi's dead son. So... another could have been good, totally cruddy movie... sad...relativism is the rule now, it seems... It's all good, it's all the same, or else we're "mean"... *sigh*