Believe

I just finished watching this movie and I think it is one of the best I have seen in a long time. It manages to combine a ghost story, a love story or two, a teenage rivalry, a suspense-thriller, a get-even story, and a "I'm-not-telling" (grin) ending.

Children and adults can both enjoy this film. It manages to avoid any gorey scenes and yet includes plenty of rising suspense and timely comic relief.

The two youthful stars, Ricky and Elisha, are truly great actors and will no doubt have very long, very successful careers. I look forward to seeing them play in more movies soon because they certainly can act. The pair put quite a lot of "punch" into the story, making all aspects of it real and involving.

I really recommend you see this film. I think you will enjoy it no matter what age you are.

First off, the person who commented on this movie first was wrong. The movie is about Benjamin Stiles not Thad Stiles. Thad is only in the movie for a very short time, and he plays Ben's father. It's Benjamin played by Ricky Mabe who goes to live with his grandfather who he barely knows. I just wanted to clear that up. Ok...so my review....This movie was weak, weak, weak. The premise of the entire film was completely unoriginal. A ghost pops up near some big mansion, and it turns out to be the ghost of someone very close to the family in the mansion. I have seen that movie a million times with a million different titles. The acting is horrible. It seemed as tho the director got together a few people off the street who had no acting experience and made them star in his movie. The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it's shot very nicely. It has a really great look to it, and the cinematography is well done. I know it is aimed at children, but I only figured that out after seeing it. The box in the rental store made it look like a horror film for adults, not some tame ghost story you could show on the Disney Channel. Other than the overall atmosphere the film has, the only other redeeming quality if the beautiful Elisha Cuthbert who played Katherine, and did probably the best acting job in the entire film. The movie is not a horror film as the box implies, but instead a kid's ghost story that could be very watchable by children, but no other age groups. The acting and unoriginal story will be enough to keep anyone over the age of 12 away from this movie.

When I rented "Believe", I was expecting some cheesy ghost film. I was pleasantly surprised to find a good story, decent acting, and some actual chills. Even more surprising was the fact that the film makers pulled it off without graphic violence, nudity, or vulgar language which makes "Believe" a good film for the whole family to watch.

A mysterious woman in a red coat keeps making appearances at an old spooky house. Benjamin, a young man recently expelled from school for practical jokes and sent to live with his grandfather, attempts to find out who she is and how he can help her.

The house staff all know about her, but won't talk. The cranky old grandfather vehemently denies she exists. With the help of a girl who lives next door, Ben uncovers old skeletons in the family closet and a tragedy that occurred many years before.

The film is very well done highly recommended for "family movie night". Think of it as "Goosebumps" meets "Are You Afraid Of The Dark" with just a touch more maturity.

Sometimes it takes years to realize how wrong two bitter enemies have been about an incident one party blames the other, when in reality the accused didn't have anything to do with what happened, at all. This is followed by enmity, as neither party seems to be the first one to see the real facts, as they really happened. Such seems to be the situation one witnesses in "Believe", directed by Robert Tinnell, and based on a screen play by Roc LaFortune and Richard Gaudreau.

Ben Stiles (Ricky Mabe) a teen ager whose parents are too busy and keep him in private boarding schools, decide to send him to spend some time with his grandfather Jason (Jan Ruber), a wealthy man living along in a majestic estate. No sooner is Ben installed in the mansion when he begins seeing a woman clad in red, a ghost, who seems to be all over the place. His grandfather doesn't want to talk about its existence, at all; yet the mystery continues.

Ben meets a beautiful neighbor, Katherine Winslow (Elisha Cuthbert) who lives nearby with an unmarried uncle, Ellicott (Ben Gazzara). Her parents have died in a terrible accident. Ben and Katherine, who also has seen the ghost, try to get to the bottom of the mystery, until they hit a sore spot in both Jason and Ellicott. Both older men live with bitterness in their hearts because each one blame the other for the death of Jason's sister Margaret, the ghost, years ago. Ben and Katherine keep on investigating until the tragedy of Margaret's death is revealed.

"Believe" has some good moments. Its atmosphere of mystery and eeriness is well executed by the director. The acting serves the story and the film is easy to look at and will entertain anyone looking for a moderately good time. The moral of the story seems to center around the bitterness that can come between the best of friends when there shouldn't have been any.

After being continually kicked out of boarding schools, Ben (Ricky Mabe) is sent to live with his stern Grandfather in a small town. While there, no one is interested in him with the exception of a girl named Kathrine (Elisha Cuthbert).

Really, the only thing going for this film is the cast. Ben Gazzara is always a joy, even if he serves no real purpose in this movie (his role could have been filled by anyone). The real treat is Elisha Cuthbert. There is no way that anyone would have thought within a very short time she would become a sex symbol thanks to "The Girl Next Door" (2004).

The story and everything else is rather bland, and seems like it was made for TV, possibly for young adults or children. You probably will forget you ever watched it within days.