This film was not exactly what I expected, although to tell the truth not even I know for sure what I was expecting from it. The idea is interesting: a middle-aged man named Graham (portrayed by William Hurt) who gets interested in a boy named James and decides to adopt him. However, their relationship is very turbulent. The boy often has sudden fury attacks, which (as you can guess and understand) takes Graham to despair. Even when the boy finally begins to get along well with him, there comes a time when he suddenly changes again... although later the boy demonstrates that he's human by hugging Graham when he cries. The ending is apparently happy - they seem to end up together.The film's got some good moments when Graham and Jamie get along fine and is also a nice attempt on this very difficult relationship. It has some gorgeous cinematography as well, thanks to the magnificent sunsets and the nature sceneries.William Hurt's acting as Graham is good, perhaps his best performance on pair with his Professor Hobby in 'A.I.: Artificial Intelligence'. A very cute Nathan Yapp portrays well a young James (as Jimmy) and Chris Cleary Miles portrays well the disturbed James some years older.

second best is a nice film that can be emotionally tough to watch at times when the young boy has his tantrums. It stars well known actor William Hurt and a young boy actor. these two actors are the main characters in the film. William Hurt was known for his romantic roles in his early films but this is a different role for him. He looks very different in his role as a postmaster with his glasses but you can recognise his ginger hair. This is a good study of life in a post office and dealing with troubled relationships. The setting of the film can be mistook for Ireland but no, it's actually filmed in Wales. it's a nice setting. A Scottish actor from bond film goldeneye and julie walters are also in this film. It has a very nice music tune to listen to played at the end of the film.

I've read the other reviews posted here and concur with all of them. The film triumphs in its realistic depiction of two broken hearts, Jamie's and Graham's. I think, in order to appreciate the story, one must have somehow experienced the psychic shock of childhood abandonment, either emotionally or by outright physical abandonment. The pleasure of watching this film, aside from the acting and cinematography, is having the sense that it will work out okay. At the very end, when Jamie walks briskly to catch up with Graham, slips his hand into the grownup's hand, and then walks much more slowly, one can see in their stride together the fulfillment each has received. I rewound the film at that point to see that scene again.

David Cook, author of the novel of the same title and also involved in the film, is known for his sensitive and probing treatments of characters marginalized in society. After seeing the film, I made a point of searching for the book, and at long last spotted a "galley proof edition" in a used bookstore in Oxford. The picture is faithful to the novel-- if anything, excessively so. Much dialogue is reproduced intact. A number of small incidents and gestures which seem inconsequential or puzzling in the movie were revealed as symbols or evocations of episodes which the book had fleshed out. Directors themselves so immersed in every detail are at risk of assuming too much understanding from the audience, depriving them of just another few words, or a brief camera close-up, which would have put a point across coherently. But these are quibbles, for there is enough depth and quiet eloquence left here to call for a rare ten stars out of ten.This is the story of an unlikely relationship which succeeds as the mutual balm for unusual wounds. The man Graham and the boy Jamie both suffer profoundly from separation from their fathers-- physical separation in Jamie's case (his adored dad is in prison), emotional in Graham's. Each discovers that the other cherishes the memory of just a few days of filial closeness, shattered shards of supreme bliss sparkling in the dismal landscape of their emotional lives. Yet not only does Graham, a candidate to adopt Jamie, lack the primary qualification for a stepfather: a wife. He is a shy nerd with no obvious charisma whatsoever for a hyperactive, street-wise, cynical kid.But traumas in his past have stamped this boy with a vehement misogyny. As little as he fancies anyone presuming to take his father's place, he craves having a stepmother even less. Graham's bachelorhood is a relative advantage. Graham proves himself gradually with humility, honesty, and a quality of unfailing respect for the person struggling underneath Jamie's sullenness which one can only describe as reverence. A "special-ed" teacher of my acquaintance called Jamie (and Chris Cleary Miles' passionate characterization) very realistic, and pronounced Graham (as brought to life masterfully by William Hurt) "a genius" in his approach to the developing relationship.While some will complain that this film drags, others will value its quiet atmosphere in which heart-codes are patiently decrypted. The more important the dialogue is, the likelier it is to approach whispers. One crucial central scene, barely audible, as the haunting strains of the score's "rift" theme echo away more faintly still, never to be heard again, must be one of the tenderest moments ever captured on celluloid.Perhaps Graham has been plagued by a touch of agoraphobia. The cinematography deftly suggests this world view: interiors of small rooms, fussy wallpaper, obtrusive props, brilliant curtains covering the windows; exteriors somehow painting scenes of ravishing beauty with brushstrokes of vague terror.Graham Holt is an unlikely hero, but a true one. If more people treated one another the way he does, the world would be a better place.