Milton's Secret

The 5 stars were given because I expected more mystery and obvious miracles.

I came back because it's an excellent movie that will speak to a lot of "beliefs", including atheism.

This movie has a lot of valuable lessons in it, very suitable for schools to show this in class. This movie reminded me of the wave, very educational for kids and adolescents.

"Milton's Secret" is a frustrating film. The characters are good and the acting very good. Yet despite this and a lot of promise, the story just fell apart at the end...leaving me very confused and annoyed.

Miiton is a nice 11 year-old boy who, unfortunately, is being bullied. The film did a good job of showing where the bullying is coming from...as the bully comes from a violent and abusive family. However, it really doesn't take the bullying very seriously and by the end of the story, Milton empathizes with the bully and is nice to him...and somehow everything is good with the world.

As a trained psychotherapist and teacher, I appreciate how the film shows that bullying is often generational. A parent abuses their child and the child, in turn, bullies his peers. But what I take exception with are simplistic answers...and in the case of the film it seems to be to be nice to the bully and teach him to breath when he is nervous. Yes,...I am sure that will work (sarcasm intended).

Overall, a story with a lot of pluses...but one that just seems too simplistic and silly at the end. I noticed that other reviewers mostly hated or loved the film...and I'm one who is kind of in the middle....or close to it.

Milton Adams is a meek 11 year old boy. Ms. Ferguson (Michelle Rodriguez) is his teacher. His parents (David Sutcliffe, Mia Kirshner) are struggling with personal and money issues. His grandpa Howard (Donald Sutherland) comes for a visit. Milton gets bullied by angry classmate Carter Crane who has an angry father.

The bullying gets really stressful. I like the movie more when it has no easy solutions. That's why I find Howard's self-help guru a bit annoying. I don't mind the attempt but it needs more development. The final bathroom scene is another interesting attempt but it does come off a bit too simplistic. Maybe Howard would face one or two tough hurdles himself. This has such a tough subject matter and the solution feels rather too simple. Some of the self-help talk may have lost a bit translating from the page.

Bullying is a good topic to address but with the way things are in the world it's just gonna get worse. If people would actually listen to the advice in this movie and put down their cell phones, and really talk to one another we might just make some progress, instead of regressing.

The storyline is what drew me to watch this movie. It started out slow, but I really wanted to see where it would go and I wasn't disappointed. Donald Sutherland is superb in this. The storyline is very contemporary and credible. I would definitely recommend this. Well written, well acted.