I tend to be a sucker for coming-of-age dramas like these, and this is one of the good ones. The premise of a boy wanting to accumulate 25 cents to go to the movies is simple but engaging and effective. Modern day viewers might look at his quest as stupid and redundant, but that's easy to say when you have enough money to go the movies every weekend. To this little boy, it's his dream to go to the new local cinema on opening day. Plus, in the days of the depression, the cinema meant much more than it does now. Nowadays, people don't respect the institution. You see people put their feet up on the chairs in front of them, throw popcorn at the screen, shamelessly talk amongst themselves and to give a thoroughly modern example, let their cell phones ring. I think it was Gene Siskel, who said the most beautiful sight is seeing a movie audience as the screen shines over them and their eyes are glued to the screen. Cinema just had that magical feeling to people. So though I was born five decades later, I was still able to put myself in the main character's shoes.
Joseph Stefano, known mostly for his screenplay for "Psycho," wrote this nice character-driven drama that took me on a journey. Of course, that's also thanks to the child actor who played the main character. He has a certain authenticity to him that not all child actors have. If a child actor can say his lines like he means them and deliver emotions without dialogue, he's doing a good-enough job. Not only that, but he holds his own opposite the brilliant Al Pacino. Like always, Pacino gives a powerful performance, and I felt the character he played was different and unique. This time he's not a gangster or a cop. Though he has a supporting role, he makes his screen time memorable. Mary Elizabeth (I'm not gonna attempt to say her last name) is great as well.
The situations our protagonist gets into are sometimes funny, sometimes sad. As trivial as his quest to get 25 cents may seem, I wanted him to accomplish it. The ending is sad, though not unexpected. Mainly, it's the richly developed characters and their interactions that make this a solid film.
My score: 8 (out of 10)
