I'll never understand it.....

Rating: 6/10 (11 September 1999)

I am not surprised the mass market likes this very mediocre movie, but I can't understand the near universal critical acclaim a movie like this can get. I admit my own bias - I hate movies about smary kids to begin with, nor do I care for obvious sentimentality, but trying to be objective, the problem, as usual is the script. It simply is average--the pacing is awkward and plodding; there is a serious lack of tension and momentum. I do not consider myself to be a literary genius, but have all the critics of today never seen a movie with good writing? (Mostly pre 1990). Are we really left with movies that go "Boo.", (accompanied by the generic rumbling sound effect). Or are they only comparing movies to the other dismal offerings we get today (well,fair enough, perhaps). This movie was quite boring, and if I hadn't been nearly asleep thru most of it, I probably could have figured out the "surprise."
Mainly I enjoyed the Philadelphia locales.