Then there's a tragic accident and things get serious. For a while. Then they become cute and carefree again. And preseensoon they become even more serious, even life-threatening. You know the routine.
Many modern films are chock-full of sentimentality and melodrama.
The recent One True Thing , for instance, could easily have tumbled headlong into an abyss of maudlin emotions and melodrama, but it was buoyed by first-rate performances, assured direction, and strong writing. Simon Birch has first-rate performances. What's missing are the assured direction and the strong writing. Johnson manages to pull some scenes off beautifully while others drag or lose focus or, worse, feel manipulative. There are some big laughs when Simon and Joe sit around eating ice cream and ruminating on the true identity of Joe's father.