Irritating Kid Ruins Film

Rating: 4/10 (29 August 2007)

I love kids - nice, behaved kids but young Christian Bale in here, despite growing up to be a fine actor, plays a character as annoying as hell. He does nothing - at least in the first half of the film - but run around speaking gibberish, making no sense. Then he switches gears totally in the second half. Never is he a realistic kid; almost always is he irritating.
Also, a big factor in why this film disappointed me was that it simply was too long, and too melodramatic. I like the photography. I've never seen a Steven Spielberg movie that wasn't eye candy.
Another drawback of this film is needlessly confusing. Many people came out of the theater had no clue what this was all about. Some people are always afraid to admit it, so I am glad to see some reviewers here comment honestly on that.
I also see too many negative messages from Spielberg films, this being one more example. He likes to show kids being smarter than adults, he's extremely PC-minded, too much so, so ethnic groups are always shown better than Anglos, and cheating and lying are fine for kids and others as long as they help achieve the object. That's in here with Bale's character "Jamie Graham."
It isn't all bad; there are sincerely touching movies and, for many, profound messages. It has the usual anti-war message. The acting is great all around. John Malkovich, as always, is fun to watch. There is a good mixture of drama, intrigue, wonder and awe as in most Spielberg films.
It's just that "Jamie" dominates the film, start-to-finish, and most of the time he is a pain in the butt. I'm sorry if I sound like "Scrooge" but watching a bratty, obnoxious kid for 2.5 straight hours in not entertainment to me..