Simon Birch . Tucson Weekly . 09-21-98

Simon Birch

DIRECTED BY: Mark Steven Johnson

REVIEWED: 09-21-98

Hollywood has the Oscars on its mind, and, since films about mentally and/or physically challenged people are surefire Oscar bait (Children of a Lesser God, Rain Man, Forrest Gump), Disney goes for the jugular with a story about the very, very tiny Simon Burch (Ian Michael Smith). The unfortunate result is an assemblage of loosely related scenes which milk the shock value of Smith's physical appearance in an attempt to force viewers onto an emotional roller coaster. A weak plot does surface about two-thirds into the movie, but by then the audience has already been subjected to at least a dozen references to Simon as a miracle/hero/instrument of God, a Forrest Gump-ian use of an overly obvious soundtrack, and a whole lotta wooden child acting (not Smith). The real tragedy of the film is that its dramatic impact derives not from Simon's character, and the obstacles a norm-obsessed society tosses his way, but rather from exploiting how different Smith looks. Jim Carrey provides cutesy narration and the always likable Oliver Platt contributes to the few digestible scenes.

--Higgins

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