A personal opinion

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2008)

Let's get this straight:
It's not an artistically excellent movie. It is not a movie with performances that are going to constitute landmarks in the acting profession. It is not a movie with high-end special effects, storming action or astounding scenery. It is not a story that copes with the deepest causes of adolescent misbehavior / frustration / desperation in the sense of a purely sociological cinematography. It can be characterised light (although it includes sadness as a feeling) and shallow (because in its limited duration the director does not have the convenience of "looking" deeper into the characters and - at the same time - include an extensive plot which must be given in order to see a considerable change in Landon's personality)
I could go on giving cons about this film but I am sure you can find many in previously posted negative reviews - and many of these reviews, more or less, hit some quite substantial spots about the film. BUT...
I gave it 10 out of 10 for a single simple reason: whatever its flaws, it made me cry unashamedly and that's something that not a lot of movies can claim, in all honesty. And despite the sadness it inevitably brings (which is not necessarily bad) it also brings innocence, sweetness, optimism - yes, that too - and faith in life and love and the ability of every single person for change, the ability - and the obligation - to become better. It is a movie-edition of an adorable book, and as always, it cannot be better than the book. However, in its own scope it brings out the message quite clearly, quite beautifully, and quite optimistically. It is a film that I have watched repeatedly and will continue to watch with joy. And melancholy.