Daninger very weak, unfortunately

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

zee If the point of any narrative work of art is to make me sympathize with the human problems of a character, this movie is a failure . The story is of a child who killed his brother accidentally, and there is plenty to sympathize with there, it may seem. A family torn apart, a tragedy that goes unnamed, the guilt and loneliness, etc.But this tragedy is here played almost for laughs with a bizarre fabulist kind of treatment, and so I never believe in any of it, and I'm left not giving a crap that some kid has died, because I can't believe that the kid is real. Nor is anything real. I leave thinking either I'm a terrible person for not caring that a kid has died... Or I choose a more comfortable feeling and that is to think that the director /writer /everyone involved in this is a soulless or cruel idiot. Yes, it is only a movie, but books and movies are supposed to make me believe for their duration and to illuminate the human experience. This does none of that. It felt like an insult to me and a masturbatory exercise by the filmmaker, whose work I will avoid henceforth.

fatref350 Movies told through the eyes of a child - movies that capture the joy and wonderment of childhood - simply warm me to the bone. I love 'em. Three of the best ever are Millions from 2005 and The Cure from 1995 and E.T. from 1982. With that said, T.S. Spivet tried hard, but just didn't do it for me. It was good, held my attention and moved along nicely, but there was just something missing. The story was rather silly and filled with plot holes, but I tried to excuse that because a kid was telling us the story. Judy Davis was very good, but Helena Bonham Carter was too old for her role. Kyle Catlett, our little brainiac T.S., was engaging, but came across as a bit irritating at times. The cinematography, sets and score were excellent, by the way. I would recommend this movie for kids - not their parents who may be trying to recapture the magic of growing up. (6.5 stars out of 10)

nbthalia This film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) centres around a nerdish young boy (Kyle Catlett) who lives in the wilds of Montana. The natural wonders that surround him leave him largely unimpressed; he has other things on his mind, namely a compelling urge to invent a perpetual motion machine. This idea first surfaced at a lecture where a professor informed him that this was the holy grail for science. Eventually he comes up with a convincing answer to this problem and despite his tender years, convinces the Smithsonian Institution to look at his invention. To their surprise (and his) they realise that the boy wonder has done it. He has invented a machine which will rotate, not quite forever, but at least for 400 years. But this is a troubled young genius. He has to suffer the setbacks of his unusual family. His mother (Helen Bonham Carter) is a scientist whose speciality is bugs (the insect type) and with which she is totally obsessed. His father (Callum Keith Rennie) is the antithesis of his talented son, a man's man dressed as a cowboy, surly and unresponsive to his son's ingenuity. He is, in short, a boor. Furthermore, he appears to blame the boy for his favourite son's death in a shooting accident. The boy's final setback is his teenage sister (Niamh Wilson) who bristles with frustration for having to live in this desolate spot. Despite all this, he hops aboard a freight train bound for Washington, home of the Smithsonian, to give a speech re his amazing machine. Jeunet instills in this film an evident love for the story and great reverence for the spectacular setting and it shines through in every frame. The photography and production values have been created with great care and attention to detail, the slow travelling shot through his father's study is very beguiling. The one thing that puzzles me is why an intelligent woman like his mother would marry a wannabe, monosyllabic cowboy. Opposites attract? Possible I suppose. A rewarding watch.

ThatMOVIENut The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2014):This is the new film from the French Terry Gilliam, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. You may best know him as the director of Amelie, City of the Lost Children and Micmacs. This time, we have a sweeter and simpler affair: a young prodigy in Montana, the titular Spivet, has invented a 'perpetual motion machine' thereby solving an enigma that has baffled scientist. The discovery is so hot that it even attracts the attention of the Smithsonian institute, who wish to present the boy with an award, unaware of his real age. So, leaving home and his oddball family behind, T.S embarks on a journey across America to receive his prize.The Short answer: It's really, really good! The Long? Well, where to start? Well given Jeunet pedigree, the visuals are up first, in all their vibrant, almost Technicolor-esque splendour. What's more, this is quite possibly the best use of 3D I have ever seen in a film. The depth of field is phenomenal, and really adds to the storybook feeling of the whole movie. It's sort of like a giant pop up book, which is fitting as that's how we transition between the different parts of the story. Whether it be out on the Montana ranch, looking out of a train or even in the Smithsonian itself, there is always something coming to the fore or floating out, and it's great fun.Of course, there are other areas. The cast is top notch, with a pretty solid youngster as our lead. He captures the quirks and brainpower of our inventive young lead, alternately able to sell inspiration, determination and even fear a few times, reminding us T.S, for all his brilliance, is still a child. In supporting roles we have the likes of Helena Bonham Carter as his bug-studying mother, Callum Keith Rennie as his cowboy pop, and even Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon as a lively hobo T.S meets on his travels. This is just a shortlist of the people here, but every one does well and their own vibrance and sort of exuberance contrasts nicely with T.S's very straight forward, matter of fact behaviour and logic.However, all this is but dressing without a decent script here, and well, we have a fine one. It's undeniably Euro-quirk, despite being a Canadian co-production, with a lot of visual gags and little sprinkles of off-quilter and slightly dark scenarios that are played with a slightly humorous bend (not many movies can make people shooting themselves, a cowboy with a lick fetish and even mourning trauma somewhat amusing, last I checked). However, amidst the silliness, there is a good deal of heart. For all his ingenuity, the film very much still presents T.S as a kid; he makes mistakes, he gets scared he misses his family as he goes on his adventure. The film wisely doesn't make him invulnerably just because he's our lead. What's more, there is a strong element here about dealing with death and letting go concerning a tragedy in the Spivet family, and while at first is somewhat there for amusement, the film does take it more seriously as it progresses, and once again, shows how people would react under that circumstance: some bottle it in, some cry and some regret and take blame. For a film with such a bright colour palette, it can get very dark and touchy a handful of times, and it's all the better for it.Naturally, how much oddball quirk you can take will affect your enjoyment, and there are a few times where the pacing does slow down a little more than needed. Regardless, if you're burnt out by X Men and Edge of Tomorrow, and need something smaller and more out there, give this a shot. It may even leave you a little teary eyed at points, but regardless, if you can get to it, check this film out. It's inventive, touching and refreshingly with a few surprises. Can't ask for more than that.