Excellent film for family and to teach Christ's Golden Rule. The cinematography will not disappoint nor will the music--both get 10 stars. The acting is good but not epic, so I give the film 9 stars. The story, however, should stick with you for a while and have a positive effect-- especially for Christians: zelie417's review is right on but I would like to add to his/her analysis regarding the end of the film:********* Extreme spoiler follows: *********Seamus narrates the very beginning of the film. He says, in essence, "our hearts can become hardened." Seamus also narrates the very end of the film. He says, in essence, "our hearts must break to heal."Seamus already knows Jesus and does His work. Although Seamus dies in the end, he still gets to meet God (the geese). He also gets his miracle: through Seamus, James and "The Man, 'Darry'" FORGIVE the men from their past Catholic/Protestant Troubles. The last scene is James' heart breaking and the start of his healing and relationship with Christ-- a Very emotionally moving moment.

This is an excellent film for people who like to analyze symbolism, theme and philosophy. It's probably a lousy film for people who want a digestible story.The plot goes something like this: A desperate boy sets out to meet Jesus and find a miracle. Along the way he finds other wanderers who are similarly searching for answers, though they may not know it. It feels a lot like a "road movie" except that most of it happens on the water.A lot happens. Flashbacks occur. Strange, nameless & illusory characters appear and then disappear just as abruptly, and the effect may be disorienting on many people. But I think that's the point. Without being obvious about it, the filmmaker immerses us in a dream where everything seems to be fragmented, yet it's possible to grasp a central message if you think hard enough. Isn't that how all dreams are?Adding to the dreamy, surrealistic feel is the excellent brooding landscape & weather of northern Ireland where this was filmed. I couldn't think of a more ideal setting. And the music really helps too.There is a lot of religious symbolism, and very quickly we see that the story revolves around matters of faith, delusion and deception. A man may look like Jesus through the eyes of the faithful, but in reality he's just a criminal. Or is he really an instrument of god in a criminal form? Every character & every event has multiple layers, each layer corresponding to a level of belief or non- belief. And the interesting thing is perhaps it doesn't really matter.Well, that's all I'll say because I don't want to ruin your enjoyment of piecing it together for yourself. The movie really is a puzzle--a cryptic dream which has a ton of interpretations.Though very different from any movie I can think of, I would compare the style to Herzog's "Aguirre the Wrath of God" or maybe Wenders' "Paris Texas" or Tom Tykwer's "Heaven" or the "Decalogue" by Kieslowsky. All of these are excellent, airy films that ponder the nature of our existence & spiritual destiny.

---I am sorry but this movie lost me along the way. I don't see what the purpose of the wounded IRA guy was in the story at all. What could have been a really poignant movie about the troubles of the dying young boy trying to find the meaning of death and the older boy's emotionally damaged attempts to find the meaning in life after witnessing his father's murder is simply plowed under in some totally inexplicable foray into IRA politics. ---I waited for it to be all tied together in the end but it didn't happen and it all simply became more confusing. This movie could have been a real winner had they spent more time on the story. I mean the ending is simply not there. The boy dies after seeing his geese and the older boy is left in the boat I guess, we don't know for sure. ---The boys could have been brought ashore again near the younger's parents cabin with the older boy having been helped the younger boy to understand or accept what is coming and then have the parents take in the older boy and provide him with the emotional help he needed. So the younger boy passes away but the older boy finds understanding and a home where he gets help from parents who are left needing someone to help. Just one of many better ways to have ended this movie. ---Instead we get a well made movie with a mediocre story... in my opinion..

This is another in a series of depressing Sinn Féin Irish Republican Army meditations. The film starts off great and the idea is terrific, it badly veers of course somewhere in the middle and the focus turns off of the child and onto the IRA and it stays there. It just gets more depressing as each minute rolls by. Murder, knee capping, kidnapping, betrayal and a dying child. It's all there and rolled out before you at an agonizing pace in this heartwarming comedy and meditation on God. If this film is "laugh out loud funny", then I invented the internet. There are a couple of cute bits in the film, but that's it. The acting is fine, the cinematography is fine but nothing you have not seen before. This film is marketed as something it is not. Renter beware...