This sweet children's film may seem predictable especially with Bo's plot device cough, but just wait. There are unexpected twists around the corner, it will take you by surprise.The acting varied a lot throughout the film, I personally thought that the hero: The Thief Lord, was really wooden until you discovered a little bit more of his mysterious life then all of a sudden he got a lot better. Then he grew a few inches, and despite the brilliant acting at that point his hair really needed cutting. Bo however was really sweet and got the best lines and I grew to like his brother more throughout the film as it showed just how sensible and brotherly he could be. Even the "baddie" detective turned out to be a nice guy despite his bad bumbling mistakes in the first half of the film. The only real baddies were The Thief Lord's parents, you never see his mum but his dad is nasty piece of work.As for the plot, it didn't stop but wasn't always a surprise. I was just waiting for them to discover that the money from the deal was counterfeit. I was quite surprised when it turned out none of the kids were really proper thieves though but it was a nice twist. Despite the stupid mask do not expect Zorro-ness from this film you are robbed of virtually any evil and nearly everyone receives a happy ending. I was a bit disappointed when we didn't get to see Skippio tell off his dad for being such a meanie (are you allowed to call people names on IMDb?) to him but his telling off of the Aunt and Uncle make up for it. This film is funny, cute and definitely for young children: a feel good movie all round, enjoy!

worst piece of junk i ve seen in a while, terrible acting (acting??even vanessa redgrave is pitiful here), and they managed to make Venice look like a cheap touristic trap. racist depiction of the poor scared black kid with a thick African accent, haven't seen such characterization since the 30'soverall, its a shame that so many kid's authors take kids for idiots.one hour and a half of absolute boredom, unfunny jokes all over the place , predictable turns, not a trace of action or , god forbid, violence (yes!kids love violence!!or i did, growing up in the 80's..)avoid at all costs

Cornelia Funke's novel has been turned into a very good "family" film. How I hate to use that term but unfortunately its true. This is the story of a couple of orphans who high tail it to Venice in search of the magic that their mother always spoke about. Their they fall in with the "Thief Lord" and his band of orphans who steal in order to survive.This is a really good movie. I really do like it a great deal. The film is well acted by all concerned. It has great effects and is extremely well made in pretty much every area. And that is what was wrong with the film, it looks too good. Everything is picture perfect and neat. I don't think I've ever seen a film where Venice ever looked this neat and clean. It takes the film out of being very real to being a a bit of lets put on a show. Its a grand and very enjoyable show, but its a show who's technical excellence keeps you at arms distance. Maybe its just a bit of disappointment on my part, I wanted to fall into this film and enjoy it from on the inside, instead I was forced to see it through a looking glass of picture perfect perfection.Still see this movie. If you have kids sit them down and show them this movie, it will keep everyone entertained. Its a film that people should be seeing and talking about since its too good to have get lost and disappear.7.5 out of 10.

I picked up this DVD because my son read the book and said it was great. So what happened??? Where was the character development? Where was the emotion? Where was the memorable score that left you humming when the film was over? The original story was good but you never really see the relationship develop between the kids, especially Scipio and Prosper. When they discover that Scipio is a bit of a fraud, nobody cares that much. When Scipio and Prosper have to make their decision regarding the merry-go-round, it just falls flat. No angst...little emotion...a disappointment. The whole thing seemed very amateurish to me. This film could have been better than Harry Potter or Narnia or Series of Unfortunate Events and should have been much better than it was. Instead, it never made it to the theaters. Hope they do better with Inkheart.