Once in a Blue Moon

I remembered seeing this as a kid back in the 90's, and it just stuck with me. In retrospect, it seems like a perfect blend of Bridge to Teribithia level friendship and adventure that you'd imagine at that age, and after having taken another look at it recently, I realized that's exactly what it was... a silly adventure and story told with low and high points. I remember writing stories just like it at 8 or 9.

I suspect this would hold up for any youngster at that age of they needed an hour and a half to burn on a trip or rainy afternoon.

As for me, I'm off to the moon.

I highly reccommend this movie. It blurs the line between childhood fantasy and everyday reality in such a seamless fashion that it has to be seen to be believed. The actors and director have such perfect timing that in one scene a name calling fight becomes a sort of dance. I loved the story line, the actors, everything. While I do think there were one or two decidedly cheesy scenes, over-all the movie was impeccably done.

This delightful film is often overlooked due to it's Canadian origins. However young Serpa more than makes up for any doubts you might have. Serpa shines as the imaginative youngster who takes his stern father's old motorcycle and a few spare parts from a nearby junkyard and builds every kid's dream come true. With a little help from his foster brother, (Baker) he gets the neighborhood bully involved in his project as an unwitting guinea pig. From there the plan goes according to schedule, with the bully chickening out in the end and Baker taking his place to the admiration and surprise of the other neighborhood children. The deaf older sister is very good, and adds a dimension of humanity and emotional depth this comedy might otherwise lack. But it's Cody Serpa who carries the film all the way. The parental figures, Milligan and MacDonald are just window dressing. The story is well told, and amply supplied with laughs and even a few tears. I loved it, my kids loved it, and even their grandfather enjoyed the film. Definitely worth seeing. May even teach kids there is nothing wrong with imagination, as long as it is coupled with ingenuity and hard work. I give it a 6.5 and I hope to see young Cody Serpa in another film.

I saw this movie for the first time on a sick day from school about ten years ago. Compared to the made for Lifetime movies I usually watched, it became an instant though obscure favorite.

I've seen it maybe twice since then. I think some parts are little cheesy, maybe the plot could use some more action.

Nevertheless, it captures the fantasies and realities of children with uniqueness and warmth. The magical realism is on par with that of Amelie, and the heart with that of The Wonder Years. Despite the particular development of my tastes, I still find the subtle magic of this film, the lovable characters, and its simplicity enchanting.

Yes, all Canadien films are exactly like this. They're all made for children under 12, have at least one Native American in it and are liberally filled with fantasy sequences . I saw Gigli the other day; are all American films just like that one? Aside from that, I thought the film was pretty entertaining for the kids.

The chronology was all wrong however. The film takes place during Canada's centennial,1967; yet, we have references to Pierre Trudeau, who was only Justice Minister at the time and unlikely to be on the radar of commie hating six packers; also coverage of the Apollo missions predate the actual moon shots by two years. The biggest howler was that they had at least three English TV channels in a rural area. CBC was pretty much it at the time