Brendon Jones 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.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

larapha At present times, it's impossible not to not to note the pedophiles connotations of the movie. After all, we have a young but mature soldier making love to a pubescent youth. But is it all? The relationship that develops between them is very sweet, and one couldn't say is not consensual. We know better that gay feelings are preexisting in many boys very early, and he must have felt very solitary before the emergence of the soldier. Our present legislation and morals wouldn't give a chance to the love of the two boys. But is that reasonable? Not for the morals of the film, who presents the relationship of the two as something quite natural. It's a polemic film, that can lead us to think as of present costumes in a dialectic way. Are we correct in judging as bad as we should such a tender relationship, coming out of the terrors of war, and which gave so permanent good feelings to the minor involved?

Andrew Towne "For a Lost Soldier" is a beautifully filmed movie, and the actors did very well with what they had.What the two leading actors had, unfortunately, was a script that did not give their characters any motivation for falling in love.There is not a single point in this movie where one finds any reason for the love between the young boy and the Canadian soldier.The soldier doesn't rescue the boy's dog, protect the boy from an abusive father, or do anything else that might earn the boy's affection and loyalty (I am making these possible motives up; there is no dog or abusive father in the movie.) One minute the boy and the soldier are noticing at each other; the next minute they are friends, and well on their way to being lovers.I find this especially disappointing, because it is slick Hollywood films that are supposed to be superficial, not "sophisticated" European films like this one. But I could name any number of lesser known, recent Hollywood movies that have more depth. I could even name quite a few HBO movies and "after-school specials." In the end, one must be satisfied with aspects of the film that have little to do with the relationship between the two main characters.One thing I found very interesting in this movie was the religious piety and devotion of the Dutch people who lived in rural areas -- a real contrast to the secular orientation of Dutch urban life today.Is there a schism between country and city today when it comes to religion (and related social values) in Holland? I also found it touching that the Dutch family that took in the boy treated him so warmly, then asked for no thanks because they had only been doing their duty.

drbagrov My deep and heartfelt gratitude to the makers of the film and the actors:superbly done! What makes this film really UNIQUE among others of the same genre ( friendship between an adult and a teenager) is the sense of MEASURE and TACTFULNESS.Not for a moment do the viewers believe that there might be something 'dirty' about the relationship of a grown-up soldier and a boy of thirteen.And not for a moment does the film descend to the level of cheap sentimentality.Bravo!It shows love,true love (which is proved by the later recollections of the older Jeroen)that never ends, and that the boy can be proud of. I am an American and am ashamed to admit that such a film is a 'mission impossible' for my compatriot film makers to accomplish,the feat they would never have guts to do: we still live in the Middle Ages of Political Correctness Holy Inquisition.How sad...

superstition2 Parts of this film are weak (the dance studio scenes in particular), and it failed to have much of an impact overall. Despite this, it is worth watching, not only because of the beauty of the soldier, but because of the picturesqueness of the landscape and family life in the protagonist's memory.One strength of the film is the avoidance of stridency. Hollywood films tend to exaggerate everything for dramatic effect, and it's a refreshing change here to be free from that. I particularly liked the stepfather's attitude toward their relationship—that's life. That theme pervades the film, and while it makes it a bit milquetoast, it also avoids the soap opera plus cartoon style Hollywood film-making tone.Someone here wrote:"And yet, the fact that the boy never got over the love of that man suggests the inherent imbalance in that type of relationship. Do you think the soldier went through the rest of his life trying to find the boy?"I'd never get over a guy that beautiful myself, no matter how old I was when I was with him! Actually, when I was about twenty-three, I spent a weekend with a graduate student and he was so gorgeous that I have never completely gotten over him. If had been really young and had been with someone like him, the desire would have probably been even more intense, though. When I was that age of the protagonist in the film, I definitely wished for a relationship and wouldn't have turned down a guy like that solider.