nelliebell-1 It is difficult to place,the place that Jack Mcloud and Dog(Named Betty Jane) have in this film,however it will not be lost.We are to learn that the husband to and the father of two boys is reported to have been shot down while serving in the Korean War.Jeanne Holman(played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and her 2 boys,Tom Holman (young Tom Holman-played by Joseph Mazzello) and Gunther"Gunny" Holman (played by Seth Mumy)are driving in the downtown area when there is an automobile accident whereby a Hitch Hiker(Jack Mcloud)appears to have been struck.Local Law enforcement suggests that everyone go home and that this individual move along.The individual is not thought of as a honest man and is treated as a no account vagrant who may very well been laying low in some attempted insurance scam,however he does have a broken ankle and though out of site there is a cast placed on the injured ankle.The individual who was treated and released was indeed a bit down on his luck as he was residing on a park bench after a nights rest.In the account of the accident there was a dog who was unharmed and the hitch hiker.The dog somehow shows up at the home of Jeanne Holman,with a young Tom Holman credited with finding Betty Jean(The Name the hitch hiker called the dog) Jeanne Holman tells the boys that they can not keep the dog and while in route to place the dog in a dog pound Betty Jean gets loose and rejoins the hitch hiker.Jeanne Holman pursues and happens upon this individual who as suggested was resting on a park bench.Jeanne Holman provides the individual with a way out of town with this adventure not ending until somehow this individual now is a guest of the Holmans.Jeanne Holman says he can stay till he is able to walk without the cast.If there was anything that this wanderer brought with him as the days past it was having a good effect though perhaps at times bumpy(A sunbathing incident as an example).Who was this individual? It was something of a question.We are shown a Silver Star within his belongings and The Silver Star is placed between the pages of a diary,though most of the pages of this book have yet to be written,they were merely blank it was to be sure the Silver Star(5 prongs with a ribbon of blue-white-red-white-blue colors)(I personally tried to read the pages between which the Silver Star had been placed and was unable to.I increased the size of the viewing image and as well I used a Magnifying glass to look closer and could not determine what was written)It remained a mystery though even one of the parents(the coach of the little league baseball team) thought that this Jack Mcloud was an X-ballplayer from the white sox organization.Was this a planned event in time as yet to occur? Time did not forget as Jack Mcloud(played by Patrick Swayze) and Dog(Named Betty Jane) brought something back to life from the everlasting.He passed this way and provided for three wishes.A very good perhaps deeply held conviction in what would not be forgotten and in not forgetting we as well are not forgotten.This motion picture has its place but it may not be in this world that its place will reside.Its place rest in ones spirit,in ones heart,in ones soul.This is that moving a film that destiny plays apart in the ultimate determination of this films place.A honorable mention is made of an older Tom Holman played by Michael O keefe.It is,when an older Tom Holman recognizes Jack Mcloud and it is here that I stopped this film and went back.I did this more than once if only to know better.Jack Mcloud appeared not to have aged a day as time had all but stood still though for Tom Holman who was now along the way in this his life.His family,wife and children(two girls)were near by when Jack Mcloud talked again to Tom Holman.This scene takes place on hollowed ground as it is a site whereby many of our servicemen are layed to rest.I am not able to suggest that this might in fact be Arlington National Cemetery but indeed there are Flags about the gravestones of this our honored dead.Tom Holman is directed by a now ageless Jack Mcloud to take a look around and when the older Tom Holman turns back Jack Mcloud is gone.Tom Holman says as though it was all eternity that spoke Thank You-Thank You Jack.The camera pans to a previously unseen gravestone and for the first time we see the name on the gravestone of one JW Mcloud Born March 28,1919 Died Aug 6 1944.A loving tribute is(suggested) here and it will not be forgotten.There is some suggestion otherwise however there is no suggestion whereby lest we forget.I think that is the film and indeed it is a very lovely telling of this rather lovely story.The Silver Star is awarded for Gallantry In Action against an armed enemy of the United States.There is no claim made by the film makers to have told a true story though as per the roles of our honored dead with particular reference to Jack Mcloud as a recipient of the Medal of Honor no such reference seems to have existed.There is a further attempt to clarify the reference to JW Mcloud as having died during the second World War.The date of August 6, 1944 on the gravestone suggests only that allied armed forces were all over the globe with much action occurring in Italy and even in the South Pacific(Landings at Saipan was already in motion as Per the South Pacific)However there was no mention on the so honored roles of our awarded recipients to have ever provided such a privilege for one JW Mcloud.It may very well be that JW Mcloud was the name of a character whereby he as a character was provided with a life not known in this world but not lost in this world either.

rmanory This is not a 'major league' movie, and I don't think it was intended to be. It is a very nice and watchable feel-good movie. Patrick Swayze is excellent in the role of Jack the drifter and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is excellent in her role of a dedicated widowed mother of two. The movie is a flashback to a month in the life Tom, who is now a father of two with difficulties in his business. The flashback takes him back to year 1955, when he was about 14, and his mother took Jack the drifter into their home to heal from a leg injury she has caused. Jack develops a close relationship with Tom, but after his leg heals Jack leaves them and goes back to being a drifter. The reason for the close relationship is that Jack teaches Tom some baseball tricks, and brings Jack to coach the entire team. The coach believes that Jack is actually a Major League who left baseball after yr 1941. But this simple, unsophisticated movie has a number of Buddhist messages: 'Enjoy life's every moment and count your blessings. If you try too hard you will not succeed. Everything also contains its opposite. Believe in magic.' And the blend makes a nice all-family movie.

Andreas Niedermayer This movie is better than the rating suggests. Patrick Swayze displays some tremendous acting skills as the ever blue Jack McCloud, a tramp and thorough loner. He is sincere and pervasive, as is Joseph Mazzello as Tom. The evolving relationship between the two of them is one of the three major themes of the movie. It is a relationship propelled by Tom's dear wish to have some male person around he can relate to and rely on, as his father is apparently absent. Jack, who joins the family as a stranger, develops a kind of deep and caring commitment towards the three family members. He doesn't push for it, it just happens. The second theme focuses around M.E. Mastrantonio's brilliant performance as Jeanne Holman, Tom's and Gunny's mom. Her despair mingled with hope and confidence makes her the archetype of the single parent of the Mid-50s, the era which is so superbly revived as the movie's setting. The third theme centers around Gunny, Tom's little brother, his belief in magic and fairies as well as his fears. This is the movie's underlying main theme, as the title itself suggests. The end, which makes you feel good and renews faith in what we have and ought to preserve and care for, reveals the message of the title and grants this movie an inspiring and deeply human message. Magic is out there - in everything we do and everything we dream of. It is the little things, the little signs of love and affection, of hope and endurance. Tom himself, as an adult, receives reassurance in his faith and his values by what Jack has done to his family when he was a young boy. The message is brilliant and makes this movie a solid 8/10. "Be yourself", Jack advises Tom. "And be happy with what you have" he adds much later in the movie. Hope and love will endure against all odds, if we allow magic into our lives. The same magic we believed in as kids. It is still there. You just have to admit it.

oldsenior I picked this up at Walgreens for $4.00 *. I was taken! Again we have a movie with lots of talented people but, with a disappointing story. The climax (and we're looking for the final revealing moment)or coup de grace was probably the biggest or dumbest ending to a movie. If The young son realized this wish and the mother realized her wish, why could'nt the oldest son realize his wish (I know he did'nt wish anything, and that it was wished for him)? I mean the wish should have been self evident. And was Jack (Swayze)the White Sox pitcher or not and what was the story behind the last revelation about Jack supposed to mean? Maybe I was sleeping (Zzzzzz)and not the movie? Long, boring with a story not fully realized.