Eleven year old Jonas lives with his mother and younger brother. His father died years ago. Mother decides to take a vacation with both children. Jonas sees no fun in the project and decides (without telling Mother) to take the train to visit Grandpa Bernard, whom he has not seen in years. Jonas has memories of a dinghy owned by Bernard and expects to go boating with him. However, as soon as Jonas arrives Bernard tells him the boat has been disposed of.
Jonas is disappointed. He becomes friends with Alex, the daughter of a neighbor and together they concoct crazy and mostly unsuccessful schemes for acquiring another boat. In the end, both Jonas and Bernard begin to come to terms with the circumstances of Jonas' father's death, which both have been suppressing for years, This is the climax of the movie.
The positives: an intelligent script that shows children as children, not heroes and grownups not necessarily wiser than children. Excellent acting all around. Brilliant cinematography, fluid and dynamic direction. There are whiffs of Hollywood here and there. Such as the unconvincing scene where Bernard is modeling clothes for Jonas, and there are possibly too many vapid songs. The positives win and make for a very watchable movie.
Jonas is disappointed. He becomes friends with Alex, the daughter of a neighbor and together they concoct crazy and mostly unsuccessful schemes for acquiring another boat. In the end, both Jonas and Bernard begin to come to terms with the circumstances of Jonas' father's death, which both have been suppressing for years, This is the climax of the movie.
The positives: an intelligent script that shows children as children, not heroes and grownups not necessarily wiser than children. Excellent acting all around. Brilliant cinematography, fluid and dynamic direction. There are whiffs of Hollywood here and there. Such as the unconvincing scene where Bernard is modeling clothes for Jonas, and there are possibly too many vapid songs. The positives win and make for a very watchable movie.
