Purely Joyful Movie!

A lot of fun.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I haven't seen this movie in 30 years so I don't know if I would like it as much as I did when I was 12. At the time, however, I loved this movie. This is a great "starter chick-flick" for young pre-teen girls. Be careful of the ending, though. There are tears and harsh emotions.Looking back at it from a 2008 perspective (with so much more knowledge of child psychology, politics and political correctness), I think it would be interesting to watch again. Patty's uncaring, abusive father, indifferent mother and favored sister all contributed toward making her vulnerable and starving for companionship. Patty was sad when Anton left. She was heartbroken when he was killed. The rage that was directed toward her afterward was shocking. After all, she was only 12 years old.The thing that I most strongly retained is how this movie taught me even "enemy" soldiers are people too. Not all German soldiers were hateful Nazis. When I was older, I saw TV shows like Hogan's Heroes and The Rat Patrol which also made the point that the "regular" German soldiers were not the same as the Gestapo."Regular" soldiers were drafted. The Gestapo were handpicked among volunteers for their special attitudes of hate. I believe that one of the privileges of being a Nazi was that they had special assignments and, therefore, didn't go into battle. Their specialties were interrogation and torture.Later, during the cold war, I would think about Russian soldiers and remember SOMGS. We were taught that the Soviet Union was "evil". But the reality was that Russian soldiers weren't out to destroy America. They had a job. Their government probably told them that our government was out to destroy their way of life. Which, in a way, was true, since the US fought to end Communism.The lesson is still applicable today. German soldiers were not the same as Nazis just as Muslims are not the same as Al Qaeda.

I would catch this cornball melodrama years ago and its ridiculous attempts at confronting discrimination and racism and showing love can conquer better than war or hate is as preachy and as alienating as the most disapproving image of Mother Superior or any other kind of Catholic priest or charismatic evangelist. Other posts have relayed what the story was about. I can honestly say I didn't catch on to it being a wonderful love story, that's for sure.McNichol and Davison were hardly a sweet teen romance. I recall Constantine's quiet "youre dead to me" comment to McNichol, but McNichol would also scream at all those around they were murderers when the escaped German prisoner was shot and killed. Talk about cheesy angst, over and over again with this thing. But I guess the funniest moment for me was at the very end with Anne Haney, the elderly lady perhaps best known for her final appearances in "Mrs. Doubtfire" when Robin Williams shoved his face in that cake, and she was in "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carrey as his assistant. Haney is a gossipy neighbor lady, representing society at large in this one woman.As McNichol and her only ally, it seems, Esther Rolle (who won a supporting actress Emmy for this thing) are walking down the streets, enduring all the glaring stares of disapproval.Haney spews out the most incredible slur I think I have ever heard, "Jew Nazi n*gg*r lover."I was totally confused how one could be a Jew lover and a Nazi lover as one was killing the other in WWII, when this movie was taking place. Where on Earth did the Jew figure into it? Rolle would then deliver a tirade on Haney "leave this child be!" which of course would be highly unlikely for a Black woman to talk to a white woman like that in the forties, as anyone who checks out Oprah Winfrey's imprisonment in "Color Purple" will see. This movie was alot of wishful thinking; that people could speak so freely and that others would be silenced so easily. Unfortunately all it does is more dividing of the masses, leaving society as a whole back at square one, if we are to believe the messages here.

This film is a study piece for my english class, but it's depth and meaning has amazed me. Since we're looking closely into all the facts and characters in this film, its and interesting tale of love, hate, war, and prejudice. Well Recommended!Story: A girl named well-off jewish Patty Bergen meets an escaped prisoner of war, she then hides him in her playhouse in her huge gardens, and as they get to know each other, they begin to see the others qualities, and they earn each others love. Patty's father despises her and treats her like dirt. Anton (the prisoner of war) almost blows his cover to protect her, but patty manages to stop him before he is seen by anyone.

This is an incredibly moving story, based on Bette Greene's teen novel. The entire cast is wonderful - Kristy MacNichol, Bruce Davison, Esther Rolle. Just brilliant. I saw this when I was about 12, and read the book and the sequel. Have managed to catch it on TV a couple of times since. Such a heart-wrenching story, the kind they don't know how to make any more. More's the pity.