scholara2 I've come to the habit of going to IMDb to check out reviews b4 watching films, especially lesser known ones.After reading the reviews on this one, which seem to be polar opposites, I decided what the heck, lets take a look.The film was totally unappealing, with all the lead kid characters being obnoxious and reprehensible, including Owen.Another child who has cancer tries to befriend Owen, but Owen repeatedly wants nothing to do with him. The absolute turn off came when Owen lures this sick boy into a vicious ambush by his friends, where they punch and kick this kid repeatedly.What the heck is going on here?! And then when Owen is confronted by his father over the role he played in this attack, he turns around and justifies his action and said the kid deserved it...and why? Owen at first whines about his own mortality, and then defiantly blames the other boy, as if that kid purposely got leukemia so he could constantly remind Owen of his own illness (oh brother!).Hey, I know kids at that age can be cruel, but I don't know anyone (thank God) who would beat up the terminally ill.At this point, I switched channels.Apparently Owen learned NOTHING from Mr. Rice. I made the mistake of turning the channel back to the movie when Owen and his friend talk to the goon Percy to enlist his help on I don't know what.Percy picks his nose and wipes it on the face of Owen's friend, leaving a visible mark, and then sticks his finger in the kid's mouth (ugghhh!!!).I really don't know how ANYONE could give this movie high marks. I really don't. Those who did must be out of their minds, or LOST their minds. The reviewers who gave this film a thumbs up are as screwed up as this film. I agree with the reviewer who said this is one SICK and BIZARRE film.IMHO, this is NOT a "must see", or "A deep exploration of a difficult topic", or "sensitive". Maybe the director was trying to make an object lesson about being compassionate to the terminally ill, but what little I saw of it, it focused on the cruel, and NOT on compassion.As for the "acting", if you could call it that, it was horrible. The kids from my neighborhood, or any neighborhood, could've done a better job.David Bowie was the one surprising point of sanity and calm in this film, but alas, his time was only a few minutes, and only thru flashbacks.I'm just sorry I even watched this film for as short a time I did. I admit perhaps, that by not watching the entire thing, I may have missed it's redeeming parts, but the two I mentioned above were enough for me. And from the other negative reviews, I see there wasn't any redeeming value to this trash. I'm not even giving it one star. This one's in negative territory.

vchimpanzee At the beginning, Mr. Rice is giving Owen a decoder ring, but in the next scene Owen is throwing the ring away. Mr. Rice has died, and Owen's parents won't even let him go to the funeral. Owen sneaks in anyway and tapes part of the funeral from the balcony. Later in the treehouse, he wants to show his friends Gilbert, Veg and Funnel Head the tape, but there's a problem. So they don't believe he was there, and he doesn't get 'points' (the boys get points for each courageous or stupid deed).Veg's father is the real estate agent handling the sale of Mr. Rice's house, which makes it easy for the boys to sneak in. There, they find clues to Mr. Rice's secret.Simon is a potential friend for Owen, for reasons I won't mention. But because he has leukemia and has lost his hair, other boys make fun of him. For that reason and for reasons that would be spoilers, Owen refuses to be Simon's friend.In some ways this resembled 'Stand by Me', though it's not nearly that good. And I didn't like that movie that much. It was occasionally creepy, with eerie music. One occasion that required this music was the presence of the local undertaker and his 1960 Cadillac hearse (technology and music made it clear this was the present, so I don't know why the hearse was so old, but who cares? It looked great). Owen showed a lot of intelligence in solving the mystery, and Bill Switzer and Zack Lipovsky were good together in their scenes. The solution to the mystery made an interesting and inspiring story.David Bowie was good as the middle-aged Mr. Rice, not showing any signs of being a wild rock star, though he was only seen in flashbacks sharing his wisdom with Owen. Funnel Head's brother Percy more closely resembled Bowie in his younger days; he was quite a colorful character whose help was needed in solving the mystery.This was a family movie, with a minimum of offensive content (there may have been bad language removed for TV). The worst thing was probably the bullies beating up on those they didn't like.This wasn't bad.

rabauer08031 First, I think what Mel Morris is looking for that distinguishes the Canadian film is the accent. There's not too much that is tougher on the ear than listening to a Canadian adolescent male's voice change with that accent. No offense to the Canadian folk...it's extremely distinctive.Otherwise, a decent film, and I think the message that is sent in the film is that kids, even 12-13 year-olds who should know better, still can be cruel, even to terminally ill cancer patients who are trying to live out their lives as normally as can be. The one problem that I have with the film is the lack of adult intervention, especially the fight at the tennis courts and at the Little League tryouts. The directors went a little too over the top to drive the point across.

David McDaid Death is always a difficult subject to cover in the movies. Even more so when dealing with terminally ill children. Mr Rice's Secret succeeds in covering the issues in a sensitive but not mawkish way. Bowie gives a measured performance as the ancient mystic who befriends a young boy with Hodgkin's disease. The real star though is Bill Switzer, who excels as the boy fearing death who must learn to love life.