Saul Naumann (Richard Gere) is a religion professor and a highly dedicated Kabbalah scholar. However, his wife and two children each seem to be going in their own ways. These are ways different from his.

His wife (Juliette Binoche) for the most part is falling out of communication and mysteriously disappears for hours at a time.

Saul’s 11 year old daughter Eliza (Flora Cross) surprisingly starts winning spelling bees. Saul ignores the rest of the family and starts teaching esoteric Kabbalah principles to Eliza in order to help her go all the way to the top in spelling bees.

The film continues with a portrayal of how the emotionally abandoned wife and son cope in their various ways. The son Aaron (Max Minghella) starts on a path totally foreign to Saul. En route he befriends a young lady named Chali (the angelic Kate Bosworth).

Young Eliza gets increasing pressure for perfection and is exposed to highly powerful spiritual principles.

It’s quite a study to see the family see-saw between closeness and separation as the movie unfolds.

This DVD rental presents life lessons in many categories while holding you spellbound.

Movie Feel Good Review – Not suitable for young children because of a passionate scene. Fascinating study of human interaction. Definitely worth seeing.

[rating:4/5]

Anthony Hopkins’ character, Burt Munro, was indeed a character. He did oddball things that disturbed the peace, such as mowing his lawn by setting it on fire. Yet everyone loved him.

He makes instant friends with everyone he meets. And he befriends a wide variety of people. Most people would reject these unique individuals because they conflict with common prejudices.

This feel good movie features a character who is a practical genius, creating and fixing things with whatever happens to be in his environment.

This charismatic individual quickly gathers a support group in his endeavor to set a world land speed record.

Although the movie starts out a bit slow, it hooks you as you get into it.

The DVD rental is available through most video rental services. You can check out the trailer below.

Movie Feel Good Review: Lots of fun. Heartwarming. Uplifting.

[rating:4/5]

I really enjoy feeling good. In fact, I wrote a book on the subject.

In general, we might believe that movies that make us feel half dead (half alive) would be a poor choice.

However, if we are feeling only ten percent alive and ninety percent dead, a half alive movie might be a good choice. If we’re feeling hopeless or sad, a kick butt movie might be just the ticket.

Some movies might fall short in the feel good department, but perhaps they contain some major life lessons. The lesson might just be “get the heck out of oppressive circumstances” like in The Pianist.

Another lesson might be to “keep on going for it no matter what” as in Patton.

The lesson might be “you can do it” as in numerous teacher and coach movies.

A different lesson might be “Material stuff isn’t important. Beingness is important.” as in Kundun.

Every choice we make affects our lives and the lives of others. This includes the choice of DVD rentals. Hopefully these movie reviews will help you make life enhancing choices.

The reviews and ratings here might frequently differ from popular opinion. If something is depressing and offers no helpful life lessons, it will get a low rating in spite of box office. On the other hand, you might see some high ratings for movies that bombed in ticket sales.

As mentioned before, I really like feel good movies and TV shows.

Hopefully these reviews will help you make choices that lead to feeling better and better. You’re welcome to comment on the reviews.

What to Expect

• I watch the entire DVD before reviewing it. Any exceptions will be mentioned right in the review.
• I give you my honest opinion of the video as well as a star rating.
• The reviews will mention how good the video invites you to feel.
• You’ll know if there are any life lessons in the movie, television show, or musical. The evaluation might not explain what the lesson is.
• Whenever possible, you’ll get a movie trailer.
• The new movie reviews will appear at the top of the blog for this site.
• You can keep up to date by subscribing to the feed. Please see the sidebar on any page.
• Positive feedback will encourage me to keep going. So please feel free to leave a comment on a review page.

Happy viewing,

Jim Kitzmiller