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A friend is a Dutch movie director specializing in child/teen movies so he's pretty familiar with young acting talent in BeNeLux and he highly recommended Young Hearts because of the fabulous acting by Lou Goossens and he was so right. Lou was simply astonishing in the role of Marius especially considering this was his lead acting debut at only 14. He was extraordinarily sensitive and could convey powerful emotions and vulnerability with amazing quiet expressions. The crucial scene that was the climax of the movie was done with incredibly real and intense emotion.

Even though we see less of the co-lead Marius de Saeger as Alexander, he gives an equally compelling performance especially given this was also his movie debut. His character is taller, darker, more charismatic, more naturally popular, more comfortable in his own skin so different acting dynamics than the more sensitive innocent role of Elias but he also knocks it out of the park. The movie is great at capturing the frequent awkwardness of early adolescence, and the authenticity of the movie is enhanced by the fact that both actors were 14 or almost 14 and had marvelous chemistry.

The movie has a fairytale ending which I'm not in a position to understand whether this happens to a 14-year-old boy in rural Belgium who comes out. That said, it was a fabulous movie enhanced by incredible acting.

This movie is a hidden gem and for two reasons. It tackles the subject of divorce and its impact on children in a heartwarming way AND it showcased the considerable acting talent of then only 13 year old eventual 90's teen heartthrob Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Gosselaar plays 14 year old Chris Mills, oldest of the two children of Stephen (Geoff Pierson) and Connie Mills (Julie Hagerty). What begins as a professional middle class tennis mad family from the upscale New York exurbs quickly descends into bickering, selfish and ever more distant from each other parents culminating in a divorce announcement.

This rocks the children's world and Chris decides to take a stand and tries to stop the divorce by hiring a lawyer to sue the court to be an interested 3rd party participant. 14 year olds normally have little money and so his lawyer options are limited to a neighborhood mechanic David Haverman (Judd Trichter) who once practiced law and charges Chris a mere $10 for his legal work.

His parents angrily reject Chris' attempt and all kinds of pressure is brought to bear to get him to give up but, like many early adolescents, he stubbornly digs in and advocates strongly for his parents to stop their selfish individual pursuits, reconcile and carry on as a happy family.

Chris has to endure David's vacillations, his 6 year old sister Jenny running away from home, an intense school counseling group for kids from divorced homes, parental opposition and his eccentric grandfather. His persistent efforts culminate in an endearing, warm and touching court hearing.

Aside from the honest way it examined the impact of divorce on kids, the acting performances were strong across the board with the standouts being Trichter as the eccentric quirky bush lawyer and a doe eyed handsome Gosselaar who's superb emotionally intense acting was frankly more substantive and real than his vacuous pretty boy role as Zack in Saved By the Bell.