Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Mart Sander This film has proved to be a terrible disappointment. It lacks any kind of magic or atmosphere one has come to expect from recent children's films. The main characters are unsympathetic and uncharismatic, both as characters and as actors. It's beating around the bush for the first hour, and doesn't deliver much during the second. The storyline is vague and non-captivating. There is no camera-work to mention, the score seems to be copy/pasted from different public domain musical clips, and if you are expecting to see a good deal of 3D effects, forget it. Overall it gives the viewer an impression of being a mediocre TV movie from the 80s. I was looking forward to seeing this film, but completely lost interest after only a few initial shots. There's just no electricity whatsoever, and the topic of terminally ill children seems to be employed as the last resource to give this film a "social message" and depth it lacks. I suggest you don't waste your time on that film - there are so much better around.

scholara2 I've come to the habit of going to IMDb to check out reviews b4 watching films, especially lesser known ones.After reading the reviews on this one, which seem to be polar opposites, I decided what the heck, lets take a look.The film was totally unappealing, with all the lead kid characters being obnoxious and reprehensible, including Owen.Another child who has cancer tries to befriend Owen, but Owen repeatedly wants nothing to do with him. The absolute turn off came when Owen lures this sick boy into a vicious ambush by his friends, where they punch and kick this kid repeatedly.What the heck is going on here?! And then when Owen is confronted by his father over the role he played in this attack, he turns around and justifies his action and said the kid deserved it...and why? Owen at first whines about his own mortality, and then defiantly blames the other boy, as if that kid purposely got leukemia so he could constantly remind Owen of his own illness (oh brother!).Hey, I know kids at that age can be cruel, but I don't know anyone (thank God) who would beat up the terminally ill.At this point, I switched channels.Apparently Owen learned NOTHING from Mr. Rice. I made the mistake of turning the channel back to the movie when Owen and his friend talk to the goon Percy to enlist his help on I don't know what.Percy picks his nose and wipes it on the face of Owen's friend, leaving a visible mark, and then sticks his finger in the kid's mouth (ugghhh!!!).I really don't know how ANYONE could give this movie high marks. I really don't. Those who did must be out of their minds, or LOST their minds. The reviewers who gave this film a thumbs up are as screwed up as this film. I agree with the reviewer who said this is one SICK and BIZARRE film.IMHO, this is NOT a "must see", or "A deep exploration of a difficult topic", or "sensitive". Maybe the director was trying to make an object lesson about being compassionate to the terminally ill, but what little I saw of it, it focused on the cruel, and NOT on compassion.As for the "acting", if you could call it that, it was horrible. The kids from my neighborhood, or any neighborhood, could've done a better job.David Bowie was the one surprising point of sanity and calm in this film, but alas, his time was only a few minutes, and only thru flashbacks.I'm just sorry I even watched this film for as short a time I did. I admit perhaps, that by not watching the entire thing, I may have missed it's redeeming parts, but the two I mentioned above were enough for me. And from the other negative reviews, I see there wasn't any redeeming value to this trash. I'm not even giving it one star. This one's in negative territory.

xfile1971 This movie has already been covered by quite a few reviews. However, the best part of the movie has yet to be mentioned. A couple of our teenage protagonists have just come back into town and are talking to their friend Owen. They relate to him a charming story regarding an acquaintance of theirs named Percy. Well, it seems the mischievous Percy tied the rear legs of a dog together and then threw it into the middle of the lake to see if it could swim back to shore. Guess what? It couldn't! After a good chuckle by the group of kids, they decided to play a nice game of street hockey. Those crazy kids! "Mr. Rice's Secret" is truly one of the most touching and inspirational films of our time.

Smish Death is not an easy topic to deal with in movies. But Mr Rice's secret manages to pull it off, with no problems. The film is centered around a boy, who while coming to terms with the death of his friend (the 400 year old Mr Rice) is led on a kind of treasure hunt. When he reaches the end he finds a potion of life, and learns an important lesson. The boy (played brilliantly by Billy Switzer) is the star of the film (despite it being pushed as a David Bowie film). The character of his mother (played by Teryl Rothery) could have been explored a little more and been more involved with the plot, but apart from that, it felt well cast and acted. A must see for when you want to ponder things like the meaning of life.