I Am David

While probably not suitable for the wee ones, older kids and most adults will love this exciting and heartfelt adventure of one boy's survival during the darkest days of post-war Europe.

An unusually intelligent adventure film scaled for younger viewers, which never leaves adults behind.

The beautifully shot but dramatically strained I Am David falls prey to the defect of all poor road movies: In gluing together unbelievable but convenient episodes with sugary sentimentality, it loses most of its credibility.

I Am David is by far the best after-school special to hit the big screen this season.

Unfortunately writer-director Paul Feig has a weakness for artiness in general and hokey art movies in particular, and the overall sluggishness of this 2003 adaptation starring Ben Tibber makes such devices as slow-motion seem like mannered rhetoric.

The picture is essentially a tearjerker, with little originality or insight.

I couldn't believe a moment of it, and never identified with little David.