Reviews

I knew nothing of the story that forms the basis of this moving story. The film portrays lots of raw emotion and the acting is excellent - especially that of Melusine Mayance and Kristen Scott Thomas. Scott Thomas switches between English and French dialogue completely naturally. Mayance portrays the emotions of a very scared young girl perfectly. Although the story line is fairly predictable, there is a twist towards the end that surprised me. The only weakness of the film for me was that it dragged a little towards the end.

You should see the film if you like quality acting, a moving gripping story based on truth and don't mind looking at subtitles.

I actually really enjoyed this. It was a great movie to just sit down and blob out to. I would rate it highly if you are looking for a movie for all the family to watch. There was plenty of cuteness to keep the young ones happy, with enough comical references to amuse adults as well. Sure, this does end with a happy ending, unlike the original. I thought the conversation with the Shakespeare statue about this was quite funny. I'm glad I didn't pay movie prices to see it but as a cheap DVD, it was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. It was so much better than some animated movies of late (e.g. the Hoodwinked movies or Yogi Bear).

I have just watched the DVD of this film, and I am sitting here completely blown away. My emotions have gone on a huge ride, sheer joy, crying my eyes out - it was truly amazing. I so want to buy this film and add it to my collection.

Lippy Pictures - you have done an amazing job. Well done! Together with Weta Pictures who did an amazing job with the miniature scenes, you have created a truly brilliant piece of New Zealand cinema.

All the actors were brilliant. Granted, this is a film, not a documentary. Some licence was taken. But they did a most sensitive job of portraying one real story that changed New Zealand and showed incredible valour on behalf of the main male character, a New Zealand cricketer who has to leave his fiancé behind.

All kiwis should see this film. I also think it's got incredible interest to people around the world.

This movie was a typical American comedy - big on the physical comedy, but with very few witticisms and a dull script. I like to have comedies where not only the situation, but the dialogue is genuinely funny. I didn't laugh once in the whole film. The premise also was very unclear, in my opinion. It took me quite a while to work out how the title of the film related to the plot.

I understand that this film has been regarded as a modern version of 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles'. In my opinion, it has failed miserably to come anywhere near that classic film. I'm really glad I borrowed this DVD from the library and could return it. I wouldn't want to own it.

I loved this movie! I've just seen it tonight as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival and thoroughly enjoyed it. The entire cinema was in hysterics. I haven't laughed so much in a movie for a long time. I'm not a film snob. I'm not looking for fine film-making or clever, or thought provoking movies, necessarily. There are some widely acclaimed movies out there that I didn't enjoy, while often movies that are slammed by the critics, I really enjoy. I just love to be entertained, and this movie did exactly that. Were some of the jokes childish? Yes, but it was so funny that it didn't matter. The actors were really believable and did an awesome job. Rien a Declarer - awesome! I absolutely do want to own this movie on DVD.

I was very disappointed in this movie having just finished reading the book a week prior. This is because I thought the premise of the novel with fighting the tobacco lobby was believable and made the storyline of the novel feel feasible. With the movie's change to focus on gun control, I thought the premise of the story was nowhere near as strong. It was also frustrating to see events in the movie that did not take place in the book. I fully understand that a movie has to abbreviate all the events in a novel, but I don't like it when movie makers change the original book supposedly to make it more exciting. I felt that the story in the movie failed to gel together strongly as there was key information left out. The ending was also a major let down - not carrying anywhere near the suspense or the cleverness of the book. Previous efforts to dramatize John Grisham books have been great, but this one was a real let-down.