The Cure starts off a little hokey at first, but it quickly becomes a really powerful and gripping film that words alone can't describe. It's a testament to the intense friendship between two very different kids as they travel through an adventurous summer. And there's one other catch... one of them is dying and their goal is to find a cure for what's killing him.Eric and Dexter might as well be from different planets; Eric is a loner bad boy from a broken family, with his only companion being his b!tchy mom who works constantly but is never there for her son. Dexter is a sickly little boy who unfortunately caught AIDS from a blood transfusion and he's the only one his single mom, Linda, has left in the world. When Eric meets Dexter from next-door and immediately assumes he's "a homo", Dexter doesn't really take offense, which is something new to Eric, and suddenly he starts spending more time with Dexter and they quickly become best friends. Eric's mission is to help Dexter find a cure for AIDS, and this becomes their summer quest as they run away to New Orleans.Words can't really express just how good this film is, so all I can really say is that I loved it. It has excellent actors, a wonderful soundtrack and an exciting, intense, original plot that'll stay with you forever after you've seen it. It's amazing and I highly recommend it.

When the movie "The Cure" starts, we find out about a young man named Erik (Brad Renfro). Erik is a teenage boy living with his paranoid mother, and living next door to him is a young boy named Dexter (Joseph Mazello). One day, Erik and Dexter connect and head up to the supermarket, where Dexter gets his first taste of Butterfinger. When Erik learns out that Dexter has AIDS, he tries leaves-and-water tea to make it better. But when the front cover of The National Enquirer says a New Orleans doctor has found the cure for AIDS, the two boys will stop at nothing to get to New Orleans for the cure.In my opinion, "The Cure" is easily one of the best friendship movies ever made. It shows unconditional love between a boy, his (new) best friend, and his best friend's mom. Everything is so well done, nothing needs to be changed. Not only do I give this a 10/10 for being a fantastic friendship movie, but it also is a sad, but humorous, and fun AIDS movie. And the tragic finale with Dexter's contraction of AIDS is enough to make me shed a tear. Very well done.

I had seen The Cure when I was a kid and I loved it then. Now, years later, I got a hold of a copy almost by accident, and watched it again. Being a kid, you don't really have the ability to procure things for yourself that you want, that is usually a prerogative of your parents - but when I watched it again now I felt sorry that I did not do more to get a copy of this movie back then, and consequently almost forgot about it until today.This really is a beautiful movie. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a hard-edged, misfit kid - who takes his cues from his horrible, abusive mother - and his neighbor, a slightly younger boy who has AIDS.Right, you say. Another one of "those". A tear jerker. A bucket movie. A morality tail. Yeah, I know, I hate those too. Only this one isn't. It is one of the very few movies among those many I have seen that pulls off a very rare trick: it conveys a truly sad story (and yes, a morality tale) but without a single moment where it feels cheesy, forced or in any other way "hollywoody". It shows a REAL relationship between two REAL boys, who interact as REAL kids do. And through that interaction the good-natured, loving character of the older boy, Eric, starts to shine through his "tough-guy" persona, as he takes on a kind of big-brotherly care for Dexter, his HIV-positive younger neighbor. Together, they embark on an adventure to find a cure - which to Erik seems to be just around the corner - so that all this silly AIDS thing will go away and they can be friends forever.The production is top notch. But, of course, what really carries this movie, is the performances of the two leads - Brad Renfro and Joseph Mazzello. Especially Mazzello, who is simply stunning - he does convey a sense of frailty needed for an ailing boy, but at the same time he manages to make Dexter a truly energetic and determined character. He shines at the scene where the boys confront Pony: his impulse to protect his older friend lunges him forth, drives him to say what he says - and only afterwards, the horror is depicted on his face, as he realizes that what he himself said is true: his blood is poison... Renfro also has his moments, in particular the scenes with his mother: he depicts perfectly how this macho, street-wise kid is left completely frozen and numb when faced with his abusive, storming mother, and can't get a word in to contradict her as she forbids his relationship with the ailing boy out of her fear and ignorance. Annabella Sciorra also gives a memorable performance as Dexter's mother, who ultimately becomes, in a sense, a mother figure to Erik as well.I've first seen this film when I was at school back in America, and loved it - not at all a given concerning movies of this sort. But the behavior of the kids in this movie was so real, I could easily relate to them. Ironically enough, the teacher who had shown us this movie (a wonderful woman, I'm still in touch with her) got in trouble for it, as some uptight parent complained about it having the scene when the two boys are looking at a Playboy... Pathetic. Seriously, will Americans ever get over this ridiculous phobia, I do not know. There was a hardly-distinguishable shot of a playboy cover in the movie and thus it is not shown in schools... how sad. Kids need to see this movie. It is more inspiring and educational than all the "official" after-school specials put together.Oh, and one more thing. I know I'm rambling, but nevertheless... The score. It's great. I am a musician, and as such I know Dave Grusin from his records: he is a well known Jazz pianist and record producer. Up until this movie I really did not know that he did movie scores as well, even though when I later checked I found out that I had unknowingly watched several movies he worked on. Really, a wonderful job there.All in all, a solid Ten. I'd recommend this movie to anyone. And I'm definitely going to see it with my younger siblings - they can use watching a film like this among all the standard special-effect hysteria they usually see.

Way back in 1996, One of the airliner pilots where I used to work gave me a copy of this film. He told me that It'll make me cry. I never believed him and we even made bets. After seeing the film....I cried a bucket! Even after the seeing the film, I found myself in the bathroom crying. It was actually the most touching film I have ever seen. I like the part where Dexter's mom confronted Eric's mother the line went something like... "your sons' best friend just died today..and it's not gonna be easy...if you ever lay your hands on him again...I will kill you!" The last part where Dexter took Eric's shoe was a scene that never left my mind until today. Honestly, just thinking about it makes my eyes teary. A story of what true friendship is all about. My girlfriend loved it too... She hated me for letting her see the film. I cried a bucket, she cried a river.