This film was made at a time when there wasn't a great deal of knowledge about AIDS and as a result there was a lot of misinformation and fear about the disease. This was, therefore, a courageous film, dealing with a very delicate subject matter. Dexter (Joseph Mazzello) is an 11 year old suffering from AIDS that was transmitted through a blood transfusion. Because of the disease, he's isolated and has no friends, but he does have a loving and attentive mother (Annabella Sciorra.) After moving into a new neighbourhood, Dexter suddenly has a next door neighbour named Erik (Brad Renfro.) At first, Brad wants nothing to do with Dexter, but gradually they develop a close friendship, much to the displeasure of Erik's less than attentive mother (Diana Scarwid.)
The movie revolves around the attempt by the two boys to travel form their home in Minnesota to New Orleans, where they've heard that a doctor has developed a cure for AIDS. We follow their adventure and their growing friendship along the way, until Dexter becomes too ill to continue, which leads to the sad conclusion of the movie.
This is a moving story, which isn't built around action or excitement but rather revolves at a leisurely and low-key pace around the friendship between Erik and Dexter. It's a solid testimony to the importance of both friendship and hope, and the impact that both have, summed up by Dexter's mother near the end of the movie. When Erik laments that they hadn't found the cure, she tells him that they did, because before Erik appeared, Dexter's life had been sad, and Erik changed that. This isn't as much of a tearjerker as I thought it might be, but it's touching. (6/10)
The movie revolves around the attempt by the two boys to travel form their home in Minnesota to New Orleans, where they've heard that a doctor has developed a cure for AIDS. We follow their adventure and their growing friendship along the way, until Dexter becomes too ill to continue, which leads to the sad conclusion of the movie.
This is a moving story, which isn't built around action or excitement but rather revolves at a leisurely and low-key pace around the friendship between Erik and Dexter. It's a solid testimony to the importance of both friendship and hope, and the impact that both have, summed up by Dexter's mother near the end of the movie. When Erik laments that they hadn't found the cure, she tells him that they did, because before Erik appeared, Dexter's life had been sad, and Erik changed that. This isn't as much of a tearjerker as I thought it might be, but it's touching. (6/10)