Well-written authentic story about an eight-year-old's tenacity

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2015)

It's easy to see how religious people take this for a religious movie, except in many ways it just isn't. It's really just about the little boy, Pepper Busbee, in a small coastal California town. He really is SHORT - like, pediatrician discussing possible dwarfism short - making him a target for bullies.
The little boy's fantasy life is authentically and brilliantly depicted in several sequences through the movie, not overly detailed nor overly stylized. The heroic comic-book magician "Ben Eagle" provides a running foil to the fantasy.
World War II removes his father, his partner in fantasy adventures and presumably a protector from bullies, leaving the little boy grieving and longing for his return. By chance Pepper glances up from his Ben Eagle comic to hear a sermon saying a mustard seed of faith can move mountains. He marches to the preacher to get an explanation so that he can 'move the mountain' of getting his dad back from war.
The dominant relationship is between Pepper and Hashimoto, a sixty-ish Japanese recently returned from internment. This is a key part of the "assignment" Pepper embraces to move the mountain, although it also includes a selection of the traditional "Works of Mercy" such as feeding the hungry.
At intervals we see the near-death hazards faced by Pepper's dad, like so many other Pacific theatre GI's, including time as a POW.
The kid's not complicated, he just wants the bullies to leave him alone and to have his dad back. Along the way he grows into a child with great character qualities.
The acting is very strong, except for the older brother "London."
The writing is very authentic.
The setting is hard for me to assess - the small town is intimate and somewhat catty, but in other ways pretty warm.
I loved this film.