Thanks for checking out my movie review of the year 2003 release, “I Am David”.

Why is it so many historical fiction works are about escaping concentration camps, and the concept of fleeing to freedom? As I approached this film, based on the 1963 novel, I had every right to expect that this story would stand out, and deliver these concepts with new meaning. As it turns out, the story does have a unique element of the book to it, but is otherwise extremely lacking in almost every other area as a movie.

Before the viewing, as usual, I’d gone to various sites such as IMDb to see other people’s impressions of this story. That way I’d know what to look out for as I watched. But at the film’s end, I turned off the TV and began contemplating: just what do grown-ups see in “I Am David”? Certain user reviews I had read claimed that it was, “Brilliant,” and “Surprisingly well adapted.” One was even titled, “A True Work Of Art–More Than A Movie.” I began to list my own assessment. Being the fair and helpful critic that I am, some positives, sure enough, came to mind.

One of the most noticeable qualities is the film’s simple, energetic music, that at least helps you feel that the story is actually getting places. Also certainly worth noting is that Jim Caviezel’s performance, as well as that of many of the side-characters, was both fresh and convincing. This was undoubtedly the best part of the movie.

Now here are the negatives, and fans of this film are not going to like it. “I Am David” defies not only expectations as a genre, but as a movie, and not in a good way. Much of the events feel like they were side-stories taken straight out of the novel and placed in a certain order without context, in order to simulate David traveling. Nothing against adventuring and side-stories in a movie(“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” made fantastic use of both), but how about some story in there somewhere? At one point David gets taken in by a family, but this doesn’t get much anywhere as he soon leaves, justifying his actions by saying, “You’re just too good for me.”

Ben Tibber’s performance as David is astoundingly… dull. Sure, he’ll say all the lines in a cute accent, but all his face ever projects is what could only be described as skepticallity, confusion, or perhaps a look of infinite boredness(which I’m not really sure is a word, but I felt portrayed my thoughts best).

The movie I Am David’s recurring theme that there is “always true good in the world”, though portrayed from a somewhat unique angle, can’t redeem the generic and disjointed mess that is itself. Though it tries, it is never suspenseful, scary, cool, or passionate. It barely succeeds in depicting some interesting drama, though it’s still, like the rest of David’s convenient and side-character driven adventure, pathetically unconvincing. It’s a mediocre title that’s made worse by the fact that the upsides to the story were solely inspired by the novel. “More than a movie”? Not on your life. At best, “I Am David” is so much less.

35% Barely Tolerable