I watched this movie recently and found it to be pretty good. I was surprised at the low ranking it was given here. That was before i realized that it was a remake of another very popular film. I may or may not have seen the original, i can't recall, however I feel it's unfair to slam this one because it doesn't quite stand up against the original movie. There were a few scenes that were very well done and genuinely touched me. I loved the scene on the ferry when the boy was imagining his mom writing a letter about her love for her son. I really felt the character's sense of loss in that scene. This technique is repeated when the JJ goes and rides on the carosuel that he had shared with his mom. Having said that, the movie is a bit uneven. The cast was terrific except for the kid playing JJ. There were times when he wasn't effective but hey he's only a child and not all children can give emotional performances in movies. Something else that bugged me is the way JJ stays clean and well groomed while living with a dog in a cave. Not very realistic. I also didn't feel Kathleen Turner gave a terrific performance, perhaps a bit of miscasting there. Overall I was entertained for a couple of hours and yeah it could have been better but there were some very powerful scenes that made it worthwhile.
