If you focus on the feel-good narrative only then this is an enjoyable dumb kid wins through romp. It has many faults however, the scant attention paid to so many elements of the story, the unrealistic gloss moments and the unrealistic confrontation moments. The emotive cues invite you to sympathise but it feels as though there are numerous missing scenes. The film asks too many questions that are never answered and tries to cover more ground than it can handle. The acting is good but there are too many holes and clichés for this to be considered the great film that reviewers claim it to be. Some characters behave in a wholly unbelievable way and the racism and compassion alike are too stagey. This might have worked better with a focus on the adult and flashbacks on the child - instead it feels like two TV episodes butchered and then partially combined.
