RichC2

It's watchable, but does come off as a hokey "made for lifetime" movie in spots. It just doesn't work in its entirity.

Groucho

I'll never see this, so I read the plot summary on Wikipedia.

PopcornTreeCt

I read the screenplay. I imagine it must have been changed.

The O

Wow. That space shuttle business was in the script? Amazing.

A few moments in the film make a little more sense with that in mind. Thanks for sharing.

Daytripper

WTF? This movie is expected to make 24M this weekend? Why!??

http://www.boxofficereport.com/wbon/forecast.shtml

fumanstan

It's Will Smith. He's a big draw.

Daytripper

I get that. But I don't know one person, not one, who has mentioned going to see this film.

RichC2

That route probably would have been a tad tasteless as it is a very particular situation. I do agree it fits the content of the movie substantially better though.

Ronnie Dobbs

Did they change it to a happy ending?

RichC2

Brack

I really, really liked this movie. I don't get the negative reviews. I guess people are covering up their own soullessness by calling it manipulative. I can't stand that "criticism," but I'll just agree to disagree.

As far as there being surprises or twists, I kinda figured out how it was all going to play out after about a half hour or so, but it still was a solid, well made film. I teared up quite a bit. I work in health care, so maybe I'm biased, but the movie really got to me.

DeFan

Patman

Well, after seeing the previews earlier, and some cursory discussion about the trailer with friends, we had sussed out the meat of the storyline, and the film is pretty much devoid of much surprise after that, and for me, the screenplay is so torturously slow and offputting in getting to the punchline, I was mainly bored by how it unfolded, especially since it wasn't more than 10 minutes into the film that my suspicious were all but confirmed. The character played by Will Smith just wasn't interesting enough to prop up the film's 2-hour running time, and the other characters aren't all that well developed (except that they are living, breathing human beings), so the emotional hook in the story was minimal to me, and left me blase about the film as a whole. That being said, there were quite a few weepers in my audience who, I guess, didn't quite see how it was going to end, so there you go.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

Mr. Salty

I get so tired of people who ascribe some sort of ulterior motive to people whose opinions don't jibe with their own. I'm not covering up anything. I really do think the movie is shamelessly, emotionally manipulative. It's obnoxious for you to accuse me of being "soulless" just because you disagree.

Al Padrino

I found myself daydreaming throughout most of the movie, but got locked in the last half hour or so. I agree it's a bit hokey at times, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get choked up near the end. Not a huge turnout, but it looked like there were even fewer dry eyes by the end of the movie.

It's one of those flicks like The Pursuit of Happyness that I could appreciate for its good acting, but probably would have trouble sitting through a second time.

Brack

It's a feel movie, not a think movie. Again, soulless to think of the movie in any other terms. Sure, you have to think about what's going on, but you also have to face the reality on the screen. That's any movie. Taking a cop out and calling it manipulative I find laughable. It's just my opinion, and in no way a personal jab and anyone who didn't connect. I just think you missed the point.

DRG

I didn't find it manipulative, if anything I found it the opposite of manipulative... it was shot so cold and sterile I felt like I was watching the mechanics of humanity but not the real thing. Despite that, I kind of enjoyed it. There was enough strangeness to the characters and the story to keep me curious, even though I figured out the big picture rather early on.

Brack

We figured it out so quickly because all the reviews said "HEY, THERE ARE SURPRISES IN THIS MOVIE," as if those aren't spoilers or something.

Mr. Salty

Actually, a large part of the film's marketing campaign has been based on the fact that Will Smith's character has some big secret. It's like M. Knight Shyamalan directed the movie or something. But if people follow your logic and leave their brain in the car, they should be fine.

Brack

Like I already said, but you failed to realize, or you're just mad at me because I called you soulless, which says more about you than it does me, I figured out the plot pretty quickly. But that really is losing the point of the movie. The movie's success had little to do with keeping the "secret." And like I already said, this is a feeling movie mostly, not a thinking, intellectual, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sorry you didn't figure that out. There are proper ways to watching films.

Brack

I just wanted to add that I would've considered the movie manipulative if the writing of the film came across as if the actions of the character are what everyone should do if they were in the same situation. I really didn't think it did, but at least I understood where the character was coming from, and in that sense I related.

DeFan

I did enjoy Rosario Dawson's performance. I laughed when she said

LickTheABCs

Yeah, she was good. But seriously, she has a scene in the bathtub.. they couldn't show ANYTHING? I don't ask much in a film. Lord knows I was bored enough.

My GF teared up though, so there is that.

My Other Self

I liked it. I was trying to piece it together as the film went along, and it all came together at the end. I don't understand all the negative flack. But..

Brack