Release date April 24, 2015

Taking my almost eleven-year old son to a movie is a ritual for fathers.  No, this wasn’t the latest Pixar release like Toy Story or Ice Age.  This was a more grown up flick.  And my son would attend his first movie premier.

I can’t give away the ending.  It was unexpected and it triple-packed the tears into a film that kept moving the emotions.

The movie struck too close to home.  I am older dad (almost 70) and my son senses, well, that dad maybe isn’t always going to be around.  We’re very close and sometimes I think when I hug my son he thinks it might be for the last time one of these days.  While I am good health, I’ve got to make it past age 80 to see my son into young adulthood and hope he isn’t pushing my wheelchair by then. 

The movie was about a small undergrown boy whose dad went off to war, but would dad ever come back?  The bombing of Hiroshima put the answer to that question into peril.  Amazon Prime (One Year... Check Amazon for Pricing.

The movie was more than advertised –a storyline about a 7-year old boy during WWII that wrapped the citizens of a small west coast town around his determination to get his dad to return from the war theatre.   However, there were many subplots within the movie, some making you wonder which plot was primary at times.

The casting for this movie was exceptional.  Emily Watson was Emma Busbee the dutiful and devoted mother.  Michael Rapoport the shell-shocked father.  Jacob Salvati, a kid who wanted to be just like his dad.  Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the Japanese-American immigrant Hashimoto.  The roles they played are memorable.  And isn’t that what a movie with dad is supposed to be about?    

Was the primary meaning of the movie about faith in God?  If it was, it didn’t let me or my son down.  Was the movie about prejudice?  Yes, and it introduced my son to something that he has not yet thought about at his young age.  Was it about death?  That grim reaper theme loomed throughout, but who was going to die? Hashimoto?  Mr. Busbee?  Maybe both of them in a horrendous outcome that would have crushed the little boy’s faith in God. Would the parish priest live to see the repentant assignments he gave to the little boy backfire?

Bring your Kleenex box.  You’ll shed tears harder than you ever did when someone died in a John Wayne movie. 

The measure of this movie’s impact — my son didn’t ask me to buy any popcorn half way through.  It was too gripping throughout.

My son and I have told our story about the movie many times over now.  In the end, it was a thrilling inspirational movie uncharacteristic of the flicks kids see these days. 

Its producers were pointedly making another statement with this film.  That independent film makers with family values could make a movie that America would attend. 

If you have young children at home, dad, take them to see this epic film.  (Uh, you probably won’t feel comfortable letting them see you crying.)  I think my son will recall the fond memories of our night at the movies for many years to come.  Here’s a trailer to view. 

Tough Times Never Last... Robert H. Schuller Best Price: $1.36 Buy New $2.76 (as of 01:00 UTC - Details)

Success Is Never Endin... Schuller, Robert Best Price: $0.01 Buy New $3.93 (as of 01:00 UTC - Details)

52 Things Sons Need fr... Payleitner, Jay Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $5.99 (as of 04:30 UTC - Details)

Check Amazon for Pricing.