XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Que no me toque un alto delante The screenplay combines local aspects of life and traditions of Laos, with a way of telling which makes it universal. The story opens in a very pleasant way, and continues to evolve throughout the film. Give it up for the boy Disamoe. He was chosen for this movie as a child of the street, without acting training. Excels in the paper. The work is very surprising, showing a display of acting abilities that promises much (if we ever get to see him again). The girl is also fine. These films, a priori,are great, because they let us spy places and realities unknown to us: in this case Laos, a place not only devastated by poverty, but by the legacy of war. A direction and a highly polished, at times almost poetic photograph, which embellishes the horrors being shown. The director is showing various aspects of the life of the "not favored" in this country, trying to maintain a balance between drama and very harsh situations on the one hand, and moments of laughter, or lightened on the other. I must say that it has perhaps predictable moments, commonplaces and more corny ones, but I think maybe were attempts to avoid falling into melodrama and total tragedy that could have been. The director could have opted for something more authentic, and not so standard. I think that in that difficulty lies the reason because this has not become a great movie; despite which it still is worth seeing. (Detail: amazing "James Brown" character) For an amazing blog, visit: quenometoque.wix.com/unaltodelante

Roland E. Zwick An unlikely underdog-story from Australia, "The Rocket" showcases the struggles of a Laotian family as they go in search of a new home after the construction of a dam forces them to abandon their native village, a situation that is emblematic of how indigenous people the world over are callously pushed aside to make way for an impersonal modern world.Young Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe), the central character in the story, comes from a culture that believes that twins are by their very nature either good or evil, and since Ahlo is himself a surviving twin (his brother having been stillborn), the family - his mild-mannered father and cantankerous, superstitious grandmother - can't quite decide whether he's a good luck charm or a bad luck charm, though they suspect he is probably the latter. This puts Ahlo in the rather awkward position of feeling like every time some calamity befalls the family, he is somehow indirectly responsible for it. The three travelers are accompanied by an elderly Laotian who, as a child, fought on the side of the Americans during the war and who's so obsessed with James Brown that he dresses like him and carries his recordings with him wherever he goes, and his feisty little niece who quickly becomes Ahlo's confidante and companion on the journey. The crux of the plot is Ahlo's attempts to win a cash prize for the best homemade rocket built out of the many un-detonated explosives that lie strewn across the countryside, a sad and painful remnant of the long-ago war that, all these years later, continues to cast an indomitable shadow over the region. It's a contest with its roots planted partly in science and partly in traditional superstition, since the goal is to appease the gods by seeding the clouds in the hope of making it rain.Improbable as it is at times, the movie demonstrates that, even among the have-nots in this world, there is often still a caste system designed to keep a person from advancing in life, but that with a little ingenuity, determination and a few handy resources, it's hard to keep an optimistic and spirited boy down.

Stephen McDonnell (stevieb10019) Don't be misled by the trailers about a boy that brings bad luck, which is a cheap version of this deep, moving story, set in great native beauty, Laos. This film brings great dignity to the poor of the world. The story is carefully laid into the history of Laos: people who are picking up bombs dropped by Americans, the background of their governing communists, and as a country that sells electricity to their neighbors; but all of this is only in the background. The story is good, gripping, moving, with dramatic turns to move it from act to act. The native actors, and in particular the children, are all perfect. The children demonstrate joy in the midst of being dirty poor. This film truly soars.

apotter-652-735021 A moving well written tale, well told, with moving performances by all of the mainly amateur cast. An excellent insight to a wonderful country still suffering from the devastation brought about by its proximity to Vietnam. The movies does not descend into sentimentality or the tired over used clichés found in so many of the main stream releases. The child protagonists carry the film along at a pleasing pace and highlight the problems experienced in a battle scared country.The film deserves the accolades it has received to date and I am sure it is due for more critical acclaim. Well worth some of your precious time and the film is good entertainment for the entire family.