After reading the shining reviews for this I picked it up for my nephew on VHS. I'm not sure what the other reviewers are talking about. I mean yes the film is set in a small town in the south, and yes that is a lovely setting to have a film about boys growing up. But that doesn't mean that this film is good. The acting from the kids is horrible, the adults are OK. Anne Ramsey seems like she is not altogether there, often just dawdling in the background. I expect this behavior was due to a lack of direction. Even great actors can falter if there isn't any real direction for them. The pacing was slow and silly. The main plot comes and goes and then when you think the film is finally (thankfully) coming to a close, it goes on for another painful twenty minutes. In those last painful minutes the film tries to deal with death, love, growing up, and disillusionment. What a mess! Maybe back in 1988 some 8 year old thought this was a good movie (by the way, just for the record "The Goonies" isn't a masterpiece either), but this movie would bore almost any kid or adult to tears. Normally I have to really fight to get my nephew to go to bed. But he was glad to turn this movie off before it was finished and hope for better stories in his dreams.

One of my all time favorite movies! It's a great coming-of-age story. I watched this movie so many times as a kid that the VHS tape was in bad shape. My mom taped it off PBS so I thought it was going to be lame, but I fell in love with it. I wish everyone my age had it memorized like myself, but then again I'm glad it's my little treasure!It takes you back to a simpler time and place that everyone can relate to their childhood.Also, over the years I've picked out the cast in other movies like Buzz from Home Alone, Scott from the episode of 90210 (he's David's friend who shot himself - that was a big episode), Mama Fratelli from The Goonies, etc.

I did not grow up in the South, but I did grow up in what was once a small town. Watching this movie made me feel like a kid again. I envy Willie Morris for getting the opportunity to grow up in a small southern town, something I have always longed for. I had friends that were pretty much like Willie's friends too.

I think the first time I saw this movie, I was close to eight years old. It was on the disney channel and I didn't see it again until I was nineteen. This one was really well made for a kids' movie. The acting, directing, story, and script were all excellent. Having grown up in the delta myself, I really appreciate the authenticity that went into the whole thing. I really liked Ann Ramsey (the Goonies) as "the hag" and Richard Farnsworth ("the Grey Fox", "the Straight Story") was also great as Willie's grandfather. Personally, I think that anyone who sees this movie will like it. It's a great coming of age story and it has really stuck in my memory.