I found the main character very annoying at times. However, over time, this movie had enough touching moments that felt real and were gagné that in the end it was reasonably enjoyable.
The best parts were the emotionally intense scenes of which there were several. The subject matter automatically lead in that direction. What was important was that they were handled well and weren't too obvious or sappy or preachy, IMO. I don't normally cry during movies and I didn't, but I can see how someone could and there's something healing in that. There doesn't need to be any explanation for a situation for us to learn from it. Simply seeing other people deeply affected by disturbing things can make you feel less alone and give you faith in humanity.
People can argue and say nasty words and yet somehow communicate love at the same time through their body language. That brutal honesty that hurts the most usually comes from a very kind, sensitive place. It's interesting the kind of guilt we're capable of putting upon ourselves. The desperate fear that you're not a good person, that you failed somehow. You can relate to these characters and the way they feel. Death is one of those things that can be scary but which we often completely forget about. It's nice to have a primal emotion or fear brought alive by a movie in the right way.
Now some major weaknesses. The plot is stupidly ridiculous. Much of it is technically possible but doesn't hold up well to inspection. It's too cute and "clever". I hate when characters go out on misguided missions without thinking them through. It's been done. It's far more interesting to have intelligent characters who run into legitimate or unexpected barriers than simply allowing them to forget all logic at the outset. The plot involves arbitrary devices for creating interesting situations rather than letting logical actions by the characters naturally take them somewhere interesting. It's like bad magic where you can see it all a mile away and there are no surprises.
The boy's obnoxious and rude comportement were extreme and distracting at times. He was unlikable for long stretches. I can understand it in the context of him being deeply affected or lost or trying to cope with things, but it was still too much and the movie implied he was like that anyway because there was no contrast with his comportement before the events. Sounds like the book is much better in this regard. But it did affect me. Brought a little something out of me. Which can be rare considering how predictable I find the majority of new movies.
