Mr. Rice's Secret

Plot synopsis:
Owen Walters (Bill Switzer) is 12 and suffers from Hodgkin's disease. He has a group of friends who award points to each other for doing risky or strange acts. Owen's parents want him to befriend Simon, who has leukemia, but he rejects him as he considers Simon to be more ill than he, reminding him of his own mortality. He also rejects his best friend Funnel Head (Zach Lipovsky) to win the approval of bullies.
Owen's mysterious neighbour Mr. Rice dies, and Owen secretly videotapes the funeral to show to his friends. They go to Rice's house to watch it on his video player, and scour through his belongings, finding a letter for Owen. He decodes it with a ring he received from Rice, and finds that it is a series of clues leading to a secret. The boys go looking for the clues, one of which involves exhuming Rice.
Rice appears in flashbacks over the film, including one where he tells Owen "All people, no matter who they are, they all wish they'd appreciated life more. It's what you do in life that's important, not how much time you have." Owen finds the potion of life which allowed Rice to live for 400 years. However, he makes a recovery from his treatment, and instead gives the potion to Simon to save his life.

Tags: flashback

Review:
Death is always a difficult subject to cover in the movies.
Even more so when dealing with terminally ill children.
Mr Rice's Secret succeeds in covering the issues in a sensitive but not mawkish way.
Bowie gives a measured performance as the ancient mystic who befriends a young boy with Hodgkin's disease.
The real star though is Bill Switzer, who excels as the boy fearing death who must learn to love life..
Death is not an easy topic to deal with in movies.
But Mr Rice's secret manages to pull it off, with no problems.
The film is centered around a boy, who while coming to terms with the death of his friend (the 400 year old Mr Rice) is led on a kind of treasure hunt.
When he reaches the end he finds a potion of life, and learns an important lesson.
The boy (played brilliantly by Billy Switzer) is the star of the film (despite it being pushed as a David Bowie film).
The character of his mother (played by Teryl Rothery) could have been explored a little more and been more involved with the plot, but apart from that, it felt well cast and acted.
A must see for when you want to ponder things like the meaning of life..
I thought this was an excellent movie even though I was uncertain about watching it from reading the negative comments.
It really shows a boy learning about what the real meaning of life is.....not how long you live but what you do with the years you have.
The bullying was bad, but not severe, and the young man being bullied is a strong character.
The presence of the mysterious neighbor was a great factor in the boy's adjusting to learning to be sensitive and to enjoy life, not dwell on the down side of it so much.
David Bowie did an excellent job and was probably emphasized because he was Mr Rice and because his is a name that will draw viewers.
I know that is one of the reasons I watched it...and enjoyed it.
He does have a good talent for acting, at least in my opinion.
This is not a heavy movie,although some thought it so.
All the boys were good in their roles and very realistic.
Granted, the idea of "Mr. Rice" is a bit far-fetched, but adds the specialness to the movie.
I have learned to at least give a movie a chance, even though the reviews may not be upbeat about it.
What better friend can a dying boy have than a mysterious neighbor who gives him a really cool ring, which he throws away at the first opportunity?This movie had great potential.
David Bowie exists only in flashback as an avuncular sage who spouts chestnuts about living and dying, and for all that I wish that his screen time had been longer.
Certainly his is the most interesting character in this collection of cliches, and the casting was well done in his case.My main problem with this movie is that it could have been a fantastic story, except it pulls out every cheap sentimental stop along the way.
The story could have been told in many ways other than this one, with its collection of children that are either dying or obnoxious or both, but I suppose that it's just not as interesting or story-worthy when an adult is terminally ill.
Why couldn't any other member of the community that supposedly loved and mourned Mr. Rice have been the recipient of his secret?
The treasure hunt itself is a good device, and one of the best parts of the movie, as are Owen's troubling nightmares and images of death.
I would like to have learned more about Mr. Rice's life...and death.
Instead, we're left with frustrating glimpses of an interesting character, and no real clue why he chose this boy as his best friend.
This is a movie that tries too hard to be too many things (in some places too strongly reminiscent of "Stand By Me"), and in the end really leads the viewer nowhere we haven't been before..
Fantasy and grave-digging might appeal to many kids sense of adventure.
It has secret messages, a code ring, and a mystery--great fun!
There were a lot of places I could see where you could initiate a discussion with your kids--about dying, how to treat other people, the true meaning of friendship, etc.
I found the lead character Owen to be a likable kid, his friend Mr. Rice was cool--I really like David Bowie.
The ending was not a surprise, but expected--maybe not by a kid, a really good movie for parents and kids to watch together.
I'll keep it around for my grandkids to watch when they come over..
Ethereal story combining fantasy and realization of lost hopes..
Mr. Bowie's first few attempts at acting were stiff.
Absolute Beginners was more like a music video than a dramatic story.
Although I own and enjoy Labyrinth, I was hoping to see him in something better than a cartoon character.
His bid for the Elf king was not unwelcome in my view, though he was a little old for the part at the time.
This film shows his mysterious persona at it's best.
I do not want to spoil the story for any "new viewers", so I will not give specific details.
The treasure hunt provides intrigue for the viewer and a sorely needed diversion for a desperate child at the end of all hope.
Learning how to discover the real important things in life.
It shows how a person unbalanced and insecure by illness learns how to trust in himself again and gains a big portion of happiness and stability.
Once again David Bowie pictures an obscure character but now for the good: acting as the sick boy's `god father` more or less..
This film had potential, but I, and I suspect those involved in making it, really have no idea who it was actually aimed at.Simplified too much to appeal to more mature kids (of all ages), too much involvement from rather cardboard parents for any escapism, the moralizing getting in the way of the story too much for younger kids and too obvious for older ones, the "puzzles" far too simply solved.Overall, far too much certainty.
For a movie with this kind of story to succeed, I think a lot more ambiguity and uncertainty is required - hints at what's going on, who the characters are, and what's going to happen, rather than great big illuminated signposts.
A secret best left undisturbed..
This film has proved to be a terrible disappointment.
It lacks any kind of magic or atmosphere one has come to expect from recent children's films.
There is no camera-work to mention, the score seems to be copy/pasted from different public domain musical clips, and if you are expecting to see a good deal of 3D effects, forget it.
Overall it gives the viewer an impression of being a mediocre TV movie from the 80s.
I was looking forward to seeing this film, but completely lost interest after only a few initial shots.
There's just no electricity whatsoever, and the topic of terminally ill children seems to be employed as the last resource to give this film a "social message" and depth it lacks.
I suggest you don't waste your time on that film - there are so much better around..
This could have been an excellent film.
As an ex brit Canadian, I am continually appalled by the standard of Canadian films.
There is just something sooo distinctive about them - you can spot them  a mile off - haven't quite figured out what it is - certainly the filming and direction is part of it.
David Bowie was great in his too limited role - could have done with more of him and less of the kid's parents - as the parent of 2 canadian teenagers myself I could see no resemblance to real teenagers.
The language was stilted, the scene was sort of leave it to beaver with attitude - as if the movie was set 20 years ago.
This movie has already been covered by quite a few reviews.
However, the best part of the movie has yet to be mentioned.
A couple of our teenage protagonists have just come back into town and are talking to their friend Owen.
They relate to him a charming story regarding an acquaintance of theirs named Percy.
After a good chuckle by the group of kids, they decided to play a nice game of street hockey.
"Mr. Rice's Secret" is truly one of the most touching and inspirational films of our time..
I'm giving this film a awful score.
It's entertaining to watch just because it is that bad.
There is a scene in the movie where the main character is being made fun of at baseball try outs.
He rushes as the kid making fun of him.
It's honestly funny only because it would never happen in real life.
If you choose to watch this movie that scene is why you should do it.
Other than that is a simply bad movie half fantasy and half real life with unrealistic scenes mixed in.
But totally worth watching for it's suckyness.
First, I think what Mel Morris is looking for that distinguishes the Canadian film is the accent.
No offense to the Canadian folk...it's extremely distinctive.Otherwise, a decent film, and I think the message that is sent in the film is that kids, even 12-13 year-olds who should know better, still can be cruel, even to terminally ill cancer patients who are trying to live out their lives as normally as can be.
The one problem that I have with the film is the lack of adult intervention, especially the fight at the tennis courts and at the Little League tryouts.
Well, it had David Bowie in it.
I rented it for Bowie.
It was like an after school tv special with cussing, vomit, boogers, grave digging, and violence against children with cancer thrown in for added viewing pleasure.One moment you're looking at cute middle class kids playing street hockey and the next scene, you're watching them kick a chemotherapy patient repeatedly in the kidneys.Perhaps I missed the point..
Interesting mystery, Bowie was pretty good.
At the beginning, Mr. Rice is giving Owen a decoder ring, but in the next scene Owen is throwing the ring away.
Mr. Rice has died, and Owen's parents won't even let him go to the funeral.
Later in the treehouse, he wants to show his friends Gilbert, Veg and Funnel Head the tape, but there's a problem.
So they don't believe he was there, and he doesn't get 'points' (the boys get points for each courageous or stupid deed).Veg's father is the real estate agent handling the sale of Mr. Rice's house, which makes it easy for the boys to sneak in.
There, they find clues to Mr. Rice's secret.Simon is a potential friend for Owen, for reasons I won't mention.
But because he has leukemia and has lost his hair, other boys make fun of him.
For that reason and for reasons that would be spoilers, Owen refuses to be Simon's friend.In some ways this resembled 'Stand by Me', though it's not nearly that good.
And I didn't like that movie that much.
Owen showed a lot of intelligence in solving the mystery, and Bill Switzer and Zack Lipovsky were good together in their scenes.
The solution to the mystery made an interesting and inspiring story.David Bowie was good as the middle-aged Mr. Rice, not showing any signs of being a wild rock star, though he was only seen in flashbacks sharing his wisdom with Owen.
Funnel Head's brother Percy more closely resembled Bowie in his younger days; he was quite a colorful character whose help was needed in solving the mystery.This was a family movie, with a minimum of offensive content (there may have been bad language removed for TV).
The worst thing was probably the bullies beating up on those they didn't like.This wasn't bad..
I've come to the habit of going to IMDb to check out reviews b4 watching films, especially lesser known ones.After reading the reviews on this one, which seem to be polar opposites, I decided what the heck, lets take a look.The film was totally unappealing, with all the lead kid characters being obnoxious and reprehensible, including Owen.Another child who has cancer tries to befriend Owen, but Owen repeatedly wants nothing to do with him.
The absolute turn off came when Owen lures this sick boy into a vicious ambush by his friends, where they punch and kick this kid repeatedly.What the heck is going on here?!
And then when Owen is confronted by his father over the role he played in this attack, he turns around and justifies his action and said the kid deserved it...and why?
Owen at first whines about his own mortality, and then defiantly blames the other boy, as if that kid purposely got leukemia so he could constantly remind Owen of his own illness (oh brother!).Hey, I know kids at that age can be cruel, but I don't know anyone (thank God) who would beat up the terminally ill.At this point, I switched channels.Apparently Owen learned NOTHING from Mr. Rice.
I made the mistake of turning the channel back to the movie when Owen and his friend talk to the goon Percy to enlist his help on I don't know what.Percy picks his nose and wipes it on the face of Owen's friend, leaving a visible mark, and then sticks his finger in the kid's mouth (ugghhh!!!).I really don't know how ANYONE could give this movie high marks.
I agree with the reviewer who said this is one SICK and BIZARRE film.IMHO, this is NOT a "must see", or "A deep exploration of a difficult topic", or "sensitive".
Maybe the director was trying to make an object lesson about being compassionate to the terminally ill, but what little I saw of it, it focused on the cruel, and NOT on compassion.As for the "acting", if you could call it that, it was horrible.
The kids from my neighborhood, or any neighborhood, could've done a better job.David Bowie was the one surprising point of sanity and calm in this film, but alas, his time was only a few minutes, and only thru flashbacks.I'm just sorry I even watched this film for as short a time I did.
I admit perhaps, that by not watching the entire thing, I may have missed it's redeeming parts, but the two I mentioned above were enough for me.
And from the other negative reviews, I see there wasn't any redeeming value to this trash.
A sick, bizarre film.
How did they get bowie to be in this?.
***SPOILERS***   ***SPOILERS*** This is one of the worst films ever.
The dialogue, acting, and direction are all appalling, but the real problems lie in the story and logic.
First of all, no kid in the world would beat up a friend because they had cancer, or shout "Hey Cancer!" at them.
Not unless the attackers were seriously disturbed, although after living through the event in this film they probably would be.
Why would Bowie's character live in a small canadian suburb if he really was a super being?
Why would the boy develop a suspiciously close and secretive relationship with a strange reclusive man?
Why would bowie's supply of magic potion ("I cannot tell you where or how I got this" why?
because the writers couldn't be bothered to think it out) suddenly begin to run out at the moment the boy turns up?
What boy in their right mind would secretly film the funeral, and then actually dig up the grave of a weird stranger purely on a hint of a hunch.
And what kind of kids would be so easily and casually persuaded to go along with grave digging and corpse tampering?
And the whole treasure hunt which involves gravedigging, breaking and entering and a whole load of other stuff leads the boys to the house where they started!
Why didn't Mr rice just POST them the letter?
He really DID want the boy to die so he could get his body?!?
Watch this film, if only because you have to see it to belive that this is a mainstream kids film..
Bowie Everlasting.
I had never heard of this movie before, and only watched it because David Bowie had top billing.
Complete untruth in advertising: if he was in it for more than ten minutes' screen time, that's a lot.
Which I never imagined David Bowie doing, ever.
We only see Mr. Rice in flashback: no idea of how he died or why, or of what so incredible a being is doing living out his last days in a tiny Canadian town.
When we discover his secret (he's 395 years old), we are given no explanation of how he achieved that (presumably as a result of the magic potion he leaves the young boy who is the cancer-patient protagonist) or why he has decided to not renew his swigging of said potion.
The kid, socked with all these revelations (for which we have not been prepared by the slightest bit of magical foreshadowing), is remarkably blasé about it: Oh, ho-hum, my late neighbor Mr. Rice was 400 years old, cool beans!
And why on earth (or under it) the charming Mr. Rice decided to make a grave robber out of his little neighbor is beyond me.All in all, the lessons are trite, the children are vile and violent little thugs and bullies who badly need a good thrashing, and David Bowie must have just wanted a few light days in Vancouver.
He's always worth watching, though.
This could have been an odd, charming little movie if it had been about Mr. Rice and not about the kid.