Who payed the critics

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Set in the 1980s seaside England, this film can be a great coming-of-age story with authenticity and may give a sense of nostalgia for some.Bill Milner plays 10-year-old Edward, who is a curious child full of questions about ghosts and death. This story is about Edward's childhood in a old people's home run by his parents. As the story develops, Edward develops a special bond with Clarence, played by the amazing Michael Caine.The start of the movie gives us a nice description of Edward's life and introduces us to a lot of characters in the house. The ghost hunting parts make the film a bit far-stretched from its theme but the films gets a lot better later. We get to know Clarence more, and we can see his life portrayed by Michale Caine's outstanding performance. Caine's acting is a great strength of the film, and it totally brings out Clarence's character to the audience. Milner also does a good job acting a kid full of curiosity and inner kindness. Clarence has a huge regret in his life. It is about his wife. We can see Edward's kindness as he tries to help him heal that wound in his heart.This film is an invaluable lesson about life and death. The bond a young kid and an old man share can be very special. As the scenes move on, Edward is seen to grow and learn a lot of things from Clarence. It is incredible to see that this film succeeds in displaying that quality of life experience. The young have a lot to learn from the old who have much more experience in their life. The other way around, old people who are sometimes not their old self anymore can often use that energy from the young.This film covers a lot of things and I am sure different people can learn different things from it. Anyway, people looking for an exciting drama is not going to like this. But if you are looking for is an inspiring drama that gives you something to think about, this is a good choice for you. For me, Caine's performance alone is enough to make the time worthwhile.

This disappointing film about the unlikely friendship between a boy and an old man is ultimately disappointing precisely because it is not so unlikely; at least, it feels to be following in a well-worn dramatic rut. The tone is uneven, trying at times for poignancy and at others, playing for sitcom-style laughs. What's interesting in a way is that it feels like a period story: it's set in the 1980s, but has something of the same feel to its construction as dramas usually set in an earlier period, with their carefully recreated portraits of times less affluent; I must be growing old to get the same vibes off a story set in a past that I remember. But you don't say anything profound about the 80s by giving one of your characters a mullet haircut, and overall, there's an absence of intensity here, just a collection of set piece scenes that don't really hang together.

This movie actually is not that great. Or great t all for that matter. It's very slow moving and definitely is not a 7 out of 10, usually IMDb is correct in assessments of movies but it got it wrong on this one. I am writing this while waisting 1:30 of my life watching this movie. If you like it, kudos, and this is not one of Caines best movies. I love English movies however this one is terrible. I could barely make out everything that was said and I have seen snatch, lock stock and two smoking barrels, kidulthood,etc. If you are looking for a movie to go to sleep on, this is definitely the one for you. It will put you into a deep sleep and you will not miss a thing. The plot........horrible, the acting........pretty good, the story line...... is lame. I could have written a better story.

A pleasant sort of film, and I'm never really going to criticise anything with Michael Caine in it am I? Likewise I'll never hear a word against the lovely Anne-Marie Duff, who always gives Gromit a run for his money in the acting-by-eyebrows-alone stakes. How she finds time to write all those poems I'll never know.But I just can't get a theme together for my review other than some shot at "if you ever wondered where all old actors go – it's a film about an old folks' home in Yorkshire". Yes, so soon after Clint's moribund hero I now have Michael's grey-stubble–and-all retired magician. Do you think I am being drawn to them? Seriously though, this is undemanding stuff, yet somehow uplifting to see all the where-are-they-nows. But – and if for no other reason, this is why you must see this film at some point – prepare yourself for an excellent centrepiece scene with a stage guillotine.Ron (Viewed 12May09)