Would it be an oxymoron to say:"Vintage Christian Bale"?

Rating: 8/10 (10 September 2014)

Take a bow Christian Bale. It's 1987: Christian Bale meets Steven Spielberg in this "coming of age" tale of a young boy, Jim, who is separated from his parents in the course of the Japanese occupation of China, that ended with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings. And how that "boy" has come of age; this film is an unlikely metaphor for the life of Christian Bale, who is now one of the finest method actors of his generation. His early success almost saw him quit acting (now why does that not surprise me?); the film garnering six nominations and not surprisingly no wins, thanks to the Spielberg jinx, if such a thing did exist!!
In this adaptation of J.G. Ballard's award winning novel, Jim leads a comfortable existence with his parents in a tony white neighborhood in Shanghai, a clique of people who are convinced the war will not touch them. He is fascinated by fighter aircraft, a recurring theme in the film. As the Japanese occupy Shanghai and Jim is separated from his parents, his world abruptly changes from swimming pools and golf clubs to prison camps and scrounging for potatoes. His encounter with the street smart Basie and their interactions form a strong thread to the narrative. Its heartening to see the stellar John Malkovich upstaged by a teenager; two kindred souls who might have otherwise never met, given Jim's privileged upbringing. John Malkovich sneers at being told by Jim how he was "presented" to a personage of consequence.
Bundled off to a prison camp, young Jim is brave, resourceful and kind, always looking out for the other inmates, making friends with the kindly Dr. Rawlins (Nigel Havers) and Takatoro, a Japanese boy with whom he shares a love for aircraft. The Kamikaze pilots and Jim's fascination with their bravery underscore how he is still a boy; as he refuses to see them as the enemy. The film ends with the blinding flash of Fat-Man & Little-Boy hitting their targets in Japan, which Jim in his innocence assumes to be the soul of Mrs Victor reaching heaven. The incessant scrounging for foods yields to a cornucopia as the Allies airdrop cannisters of food, chocolates and Lucky Strikes. Jim's reunion with his mother is for me one of the defining cinematic moments of Bale's career; he was born for this!
This is one of those films with a rather meandering storyline, no strong plot and a fairly tame ending: the kind that has viewers frustrated as being vaguely inconclusive or not dramatic enough, the cinematic equivalent of Van Gogh's "Still Life with Fruit & Vegetables" that graces the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.