Four orphans get a seaside holiday in this adaptation of Michael Noonan’s novel. The mixture of coming-of-age drama with hinted-at dark subtext recalls Stand by Me. Daniel Radcliffe gets his first substantial non-Harry Potter role as the oldest of the boys, Maps. He’s after a lovely local lass, while the youngest boy, called Misty for his sensitivity, concentrates on appealing to a young, childless couple. It is the unseen adult version of Misty who narrates. The records the girl plays for Maps pinpoint the date as circa 1970, but the southern Australian coastal area where most of the movie is set is meant to represent an idyllic, timeless place. In this it is effective, though a longer prologue at the orphanage would have established more contrast. This is one of the few movies I’ve actually thought could benefit from being a little longer. The supporting roles, including the older couple who shelter the lads, seem underdeveloped, and this makes a difference, because the point of the movie would seem to be how the boys’ personalities alternately cohere and fray when they experience life beyond the orphanage. Director Rod Hardy pushes things slightly too much in the direction of heartwarming where they should be bittersweet, and tacks on an inevitable, throwaway epilogue that is neither. Radcliffe, essaying an Aussie accent, does well to establish his acting bona fides, and his first-romance tale, though familiar, is perhaps stronger than the main storyline.
IMDB link
reviewed 9/21/07
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