NOTE: Plenty of SPOILERS here!!!!!
This film surprised me. I do have to say right off that the general premise seemed rather unrealistic. Let's see -- a boy about to graduate from high school is in a car accident that kills one friend and (perhaps) permanently cripples another...okay...plausible. The boy is about to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff into a ravine. Still okay. A girl sees him and dorkily prevents him from doing so...okay...still somewhat plausible. Skip ahead ONE DAY, and she shows up at his house -- AFTER KNOWING HIM FOR ONLY MINUTES -- to convince him -- more like blackmail him -- to travel to Spain with her so she can find her actual mother after living her whole life with various (and mostly) lousy foster parents. Well...that's where I couldn't quite buy it. A boy is convinced to travel to Spain with a girl he doesn't even know (and his parents paying for it) to find her real mother. And up to that point, I had trouble buying into this film.
But then, seeing the chemistry between Alex Aiono and Virginia Gardner once they go to Spain...it was charming, while being a heart breaking situation for both of them, and even more so when we learn that the girl has a potentially fatal heart condition. How could you not like these two characters? How could you not have a great deal of empathy for what they were both going through? And the way they handled the ending...did she or didn't she live through the surgery...was done well and really kept you wondering.
So I looked up Alex Aiono on the web...never heard of him...but he is an amazingly successful (and upbeat) singer who is branching out into acting. And, while on occasion his acting was just a bit stiff, most of the time he portrayed a young man whom it would difficult to not like. He's worth following as he develops his career. I was impressed with him. Similarly, Virginia Gardner was quite appealing in her role.
And then there was the photography throughout Spain. Spectacular. I never had even the slightest interest in traveling to Spain, but after seeing this film, if I wasn't such an old fart, I'd be buying a ticket today!
Stick with this film for the first 15-20 minutes, and you'll be glad you did.
By the way...why didn't I give the film an "8"? For me, "8" and above is reserved for truly memorable films that everyone should watch. This film would depend on one's tastes.
This film surprised me. I do have to say right off that the general premise seemed rather unrealistic. Let's see -- a boy about to graduate from high school is in a car accident that kills one friend and (perhaps) permanently cripples another...okay...plausible. The boy is about to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff into a ravine. Still okay. A girl sees him and dorkily prevents him from doing so...okay...still somewhat plausible. Skip ahead ONE DAY, and she shows up at his house -- AFTER KNOWING HIM FOR ONLY MINUTES -- to convince him -- more like blackmail him -- to travel to Spain with her so she can find her actual mother after living her whole life with various (and mostly) lousy foster parents. Well...that's where I couldn't quite buy it. A boy is convinced to travel to Spain with a girl he doesn't even know (and his parents paying for it) to find her real mother. And up to that point, I had trouble buying into this film.
But then, seeing the chemistry between Alex Aiono and Virginia Gardner once they go to Spain...it was charming, while being a heart breaking situation for both of them, and even more so when we learn that the girl has a potentially fatal heart condition. How could you not like these two characters? How could you not have a great deal of empathy for what they were both going through? And the way they handled the ending...did she or didn't she live through the surgery...was done well and really kept you wondering.
So I looked up Alex Aiono on the web...never heard of him...but he is an amazingly successful (and upbeat) singer who is branching out into acting. And, while on occasion his acting was just a bit stiff, most of the time he portrayed a young man whom it would difficult to not like. He's worth following as he develops his career. I was impressed with him. Similarly, Virginia Gardner was quite appealing in her role.
And then there was the photography throughout Spain. Spectacular. I never had even the slightest interest in traveling to Spain, but after seeing this film, if I wasn't such an old fart, I'd be buying a ticket today!
Stick with this film for the first 15-20 minutes, and you'll be glad you did.
By the way...why didn't I give the film an "8"? For me, "8" and above is reserved for truly memorable films that everyone should watch. This film would depend on one's tastes.