Warm, slightly surreal, sincere. I loved it. I could watch it a million times! (Well, I'm exaggerating, but you get the point.)

There are many factors we all consider while evaluating the worth of a film: acting, direction, script, cinematography, music, etc. Millions so drew me in, so won me over, so created a wonderfully welcoming story/world, so appealed to my heart and soul that I just didn't want it to end. At every moment, I did not want the film to end. There have been very good, very entertaining films in the past year or so, but it seems like quite a while since I've seen one that I just wanted to keep on watching until my body could no longer stay awake. This quality in a picture makes asking questions about acting, direction, etc, seem petty.

But, yes, the acting is very good. Or more deserving, Alex Etel is so natural in his role as the boy who talks to saints, plays in cardboard boxes, has the courage to aspire toward good, that one could hardly call it acting. Elsewise this sweet magical music box of a film can be a bit rough at the edges (but aren't we all). Still with its heart so squarely in the right place, it dazzles, hypnotizes, inspires. Oh, shucks, I'm choked up again just thinking about it.

Btw, it's British.

Also, the two child actors became fast friends off screen. Says the older of the younger, "He comes round to mine and we play {vid games] together and I try to help him out a bit as acting is new to him -- he was just picked out of school, so I've explained things about filming when he didn't understand."