I enjoyed this movie, but I have an idea a lot was left on the cutting room floor. The hardest part of being a director is either putting your vision on the screen in under 120 minutes or creating a movie so compelling that the audience will sit for 3 hours.
There is so much we don't know about Ryan and his family. We know he is mute through trauma, his father's death, but we don't know how long since his father's death since apparently at the end of the movie his mother either has a boyfriend or new husband. Which is why I think that some of those details got cut out for the sake of time.
All that aside, Ryan Kelly and Hayden Panettiere were very compelling as the young actors. There is a sweet vulnerability about Ryan and a sad undercurrent to Hayden's joie de vivre.
There is also a very strong performance by Armin Mueller-Stahl as the grandfather.
I enjoyed the movie, as I said in my title, but wish that Mr. Small could have put his story on the screen with more clarity.
There is so much we don't know about Ryan and his family. We know he is mute through trauma, his father's death, but we don't know how long since his father's death since apparently at the end of the movie his mother either has a boyfriend or new husband. Which is why I think that some of those details got cut out for the sake of time.
All that aside, Ryan Kelly and Hayden Panettiere were very compelling as the young actors. There is a sweet vulnerability about Ryan and a sad undercurrent to Hayden's joie de vivre.
There is also a very strong performance by Armin Mueller-Stahl as the grandfather.
I enjoyed the movie, as I said in my title, but wish that Mr. Small could have put his story on the screen with more clarity.