Simon Birch

Writer/director Mark Steven Johnson's spritely manipulator of sentiment alleges to be only loosely based on John Irving's popular novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, but besides the superficial changes to the title and characters' names, only the ending -- and its accompanying narrative foundation -- is gravely altered. Lost in Johnson's cinematic Cliffs Notes is Irving's poignantly reflective mood, and so too (fortunately) is the novelist's laboriously lengthy verse. What's left is a sugary lightness that's bolstered by several robust and heartfelt performances -- especially Ian Smith in the title role and Joe Mazzello as Joe, Simon's best friend.

The two boys grow up in small-town Maine, circa 1960, where they're both social anomalies. Simon is terribly diminutive for a 12-year-old, and his parents have all but disowned him. He's a deeply religious mite who puts his overzealous faith in God, believing that his creator made him this way for some higher purpose. Joe is simply a bastard son who doesn't know his father's identity. Simon's unwavering faith is put to the test when he accidentally kills Joe's mother (Ashley Judd, who is terrific in the too short, maternal role) with a baseball and the two boys embark on a quest to find Joe's dad. As flatly maudlin as the premise would suggest, the script does pack some tart zingers (such as Simon's being an avid breast man), but the film's biggest surprise is the appearance of Jim Carrey in a straitlaced and remarkably contained cameo.

-- Tom Meek