(Reviewed by our guest critic, The Movie Knight) August “Auggie” Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) is going to his first day of school ever. He’s not about to go to Kindergarten, but into the 5th grade. Homeschool by his mother (Julia Roberts) until he was 10, the reason for the delay is that Auggie suffers from Treacher Collins syndrome, which makes his face extremely disfigured. We follow him during this first school year as he tries to blend in, even though he was meant to stand out.
This story and its theme is nothing new (it’s actually based on a NY Times best-seller). While the plot is familiar, it doesn’t get overused by Hollywood and it does impart a very good lesson we all can learn again in the current climate. This will be very good for children to see and remind them that just because someone looks different than you, doesn’t mean they should be ostracized or bullied.
Besides getting a little education thrown in, kids should enjoy this tale, too. We instantly like Auggie and he often uses his imagination which gets put on screen. He compares himself to Star Wars’ Chewbacca and figures if he ever went to school, he’d probably get stared at a lot too, and then we SEE Chewbacca enter his school. He’s not the only Star Warscharacter to “stop by” either. The young audience should connect well with this film.
Auggie makes some progress at school, but then something bad happens and brings him back down. It’s a constant loop, but one we fully expected that would happen along with plenty of sappy moments too.
It’s hard to believe the holiday season is here once again. Thanksgiving is currently less than a week away and family films are often at a premium. This may not be an animated fare, but it’s not only something a whole family can enjoy, but speak about afterwards during dinner. That is something this genre rarely produces.
2.5 tiaras