Simon Birch

Released 1998
Stars Joseph Mazzello, Ian Michael Smith, Ashley Judd, Oliver Platt, David Strathairn, Dana Ivey, Jan Hooks, Jim Carrey
Directed by Mark Steven Johnson

"Simon Birch" is an unabashedly sentimental tearjerker. Either you stand back and resist it, or you plunge in. There was something about its innocence and spunk that got to me, and I caved in. A lot of that had to do with how likable some of the characters are. We go to the movies for a lot of reasons, and one of them is to seek good company.

The movie takes place in 1964, in a New Hampshire town that obviously had Grandma Moses as its city planner. It's about a friendship between two boys, one a gawky pre-adolescent named Joe, the other a dwarf named Simon (Ian Michael Smith) who believes God has chosen him for a mission in life. The opening narration reveals that two of the characters will die during the course of the movie; that softens the shock when they do and lets the entire movie play as bittersweet nostalgia. It's all framed in a flashback, as an adult Joe (Jim Carrey) revisits the scenes of his childhood in narration.

Many of the scenes depend on the screen presence of Ian Michael Smith, making his movie debut with a refreshing brashness. Working with the more experienced Joseph Mazzello ("Radio Flyer," "Jurassic Park"), he projects the confidence of a very bright small boy who has been the center of attention for a long time and has learned to deal with it. By surrounding the boys with very nice people (the Ashley Judd and Oliver Platt characters) and not so nice people (the minister, the teacher), Johnson creates a film so direct and engaging that cynicism wilts in its sunny spirit.

Summary by Roger Ebert