Thanks for the review, Erin. We'll take our crew out to see it. Would have been nice if they had portrayed how a sports loving fellow blends into a family of science geeks, but oh well, you can't have everything, no?

Erin, I think I will eventually see the movie. From your description sounds as though there are many positive messages for adoptees.

However, you are probably correct that if the birth parents are mere blips in the whole deal, that will bother me. Although it is positive that the birth parents are not trashed as so often happens, that is not enough for me.

I dislike the message that birth parents are so unimportant that they are relegated to remain as bit part mystery players in adoption. Traditionally, that is how it is handled. I would love to see a movie that acknowledges that it is good for our children to know us, and have contact with us. Maybe in another 20 years or so, eh?

If Bethany likes it - that makes me VERY doubtful about its positive message.

I know - I want alot. That we are not portrayed negatively is a good beginning, but I want more.

Thanks Jan for your input...

I think it's important to remember that it is a kids movie...rated G...so they are only going to be able to do so much.

Secondly, while I am all for portraying birth mothers positively (and agree it needs to be done more often), it is also a tough thing when dealing with adopted children (and again, children are the ones this movie was aimed at). Several of my kids come from birth mothers who were neglectful and highly abusive... open relationships were not in their best interest in any way. THEIR reality is that having their birth parents in their lives is NOT a good thing at this point. I have several children who do not know a thing about their birth parents and probably will never have that opportunity, and I have several children whose birth parents are deceased. THEIR reality is that knowing their birth parents and having them in their lives is not possible.

Looking at things from their point of view, having a different ending to the movie could have been very difficult for them (and lots of other kids from similar situations.)

I think that leaving the birth mom a "mystery" in this story, a rated G children's movie, was wise just because there are going to be SO many children watching this movie...many, many children who were adopted will see this movie, and many of which will never have the opportunity to know their birth parents. For my kids, the message that you can move on and be happy, successful and loved in an adoptive family, was a healthy one.

I do understand where you are coming from too...society/media, etc. is slow to change. I am grateful for birth moms like you and Jenna and the voice you have and the messages you send. I often wish our children's backgrounds were different and that open relationships were likely/possible, and think how nice it would be if there were birth moms like you or Jenna in their lives. Thanks again!

"Looking at things from their point of view, having a different ending to the movie could have been very difficult for them (and lots of other kids from similar situations.)"

I can see that Erin, and you are right, it is a kid's movie and happy endings are appropriate.

Thanks for your reasonable voice, and kind comment. I appreciate both.

Erin, what a great review! We have not seen this movie but now we do plan to go.
I also appreciate Jan's input, but agree with your reply.

Thank you, Erin, for your review of the movie. When reading Theresa's post about it, I had decided against going, but now that I have a chance to read the basic plot and how it ends, I will go ahead as planned today and take my children to see the movie.

Thanks for the review, Erin. I had seen a trailer for this movie, and I was wondering what it would be like.

Also, to both you and Jan - I appreciated your dialogue above.

If YOUR kid is adopted, do not go into this movie blind. I have two adopted kids and was completely sucker punched. My son age 7 had a huge meltdown a couple hours after the movie and a nightmare that night. My 4 1/2 year old showed no signs of distress until Monday and it was time to drop her off at preschool. She cried in the car for an HOUR and did not want to go in - cause she was afraid I would NEVER pick her ever again. A friend's adopted child (age 5) freaked as soon as they got to the car and later kept asking if he was left in the rain and what would have happened to him if she did not adopt him. Those not touched by adoption wont "get" it, but boy will your kids be shaken to the core.

They do not use proper adoption language.

The birthmother abandons her baby on the steps of an orphanage, Lewis goes to over a 100 adoption interviews and gets rejected as no one wants to adopt him in 12 years of these interviews, the villan of the movie turns out to be his orphanage roommate who never got adopted and grew to be an adult living in the now abandoned orphanage, he says that next year he'll be 13 and you know what that does to the odds of getting adopted, Lewis invents a brain scanner for the sole purpose of remembering what his birthmother looks like so he can find her cause she must want him as no one else does, once he is in the time travel spacecraft he asks to be brought back in time so he can stop his birthmother from abandoning him, in the end he doesn't stop her, he decides that he doesn't need her as he in his grown up form has a family, he does get adopted at the age of 12, he has his adult-self family adopt his now grownup (40ish) orphanage roommate, he's the one who rings the doorbell so the orphanage knows that there is a baby on the doorstep, the birthmother is shown hugging the baby before she puts him down, it does not show her making sure that the baby is found.

And I've probably not mentioned it all. So despite everyone's oh how cute attitude toward adoption, a child who is adopted is not going to take this movie in that light. Any message of just "keep moving forward" is not going to "make it all better". You know how sensitive and how your child will react. Younger kids don't have the emotional maturity to put their finger on what is bothering them and how to express it. The result could be sullenness, anger directed at someone or something else, guilt, meltdowns over unrelated or minor things.

My suggestion for those with adopted kids is to find out as much as you can about this movie and then decide whether your kids should see it or not. I suggest that the parents see the movie with just their children - not their children's friends tagging along and defintely not a movie to send your kid off with someone elses family to see. And remember, your kids friends will have seen this movie and may start asking questions or teasing your child.

Iron.-I don't think you say why your kids had that reaction - what specifically provoked it? You talk about your daughter and friend's kids reactions which seem fairly normal to me and open up good avenues for discussion. The reality is that kids are abandoned on doorsteps or in parks all the time. You won't hide your daughter from that reality. If you got to discuss it because of a movie, so what? You do point out all the things you didn't like about the movie and that makes me wonder if it was your (negative) reaction to the movie that had something to do with your kids meltdowns?

I saw it with my adopted son - didn't know about the adoption theme and felt scared about in all the very same ways that this blog's owner did. She hit most of my feelings on the nail. Will the birthmother be the happy ending that I can't provide to my adopted son. I can't see how an adopted kid would have a really bad reaction unless they had some predisposition towards negativity in their personaltiy, or they were sensing bad vibes from other people around them.

My only negative feeling from the movie was that Lewis had a chance to talk to his birthmother, and he chose not to. Although, I think it would have been unfair of Lewis to talk to her as he found her on the steps giving him up as an infant. After all, she obviously struggled to make the decision, and she lived with that decision for 12 yrs, and so he felt that she must have been at peace, moved on from her decision. But I feel that Lewis had the power to find his mother and should have. Maybe she hadn't accepted the decision! He could have followed her to her house, learned at least her name and looked her up in his 12 yr old present time to find out more of what he wanted to know. What adopted kid who has the power to meet his birth parent wouldn't do it? Lewis' feelings are not realistic to me at this point. However, I suppose if he had searched out his mother in this movie that it would perhaps??? be inconsistent with the movie's message of " keep looking forward". And it was somewhat believable that Lewis at that moment would be looking forward to his future with the geeky parents who would adopt him. But Lewis should have quietly said something like "i can't wait to meet you in the next movie, mom number 1"

I hadn't been to see a regular Disney movie in ages, not since Cars and cars doesn't count because it's Pixar.

It wasn't a bad movie. It actually had a very positive message about moving forward, and not focusing so much on the past that you become bitter and ruin your life.
It was sad and funny at the same time. It was sad the way one of the couples didn't except Louis the way he was and instead wanted a boy who played sports. Louis was a cool kid who was smart and clever, but just needed a bit of confidence.
Most of the movie was about him LEARNING confidence and how to believe in himself. It was especially nice when he met the Robinsons, who were weird and awesome and praised him when he failed, telling him that failing was a big help and that you shouldn't be afraid of it because it can help you learn and get better. I liked the way the accepted him and wanted to adopt him until they realized how bad that would be for the space time continuum and all of that jazz.
This movie will probably be a bit disapointing to some people, it's just that you cannot really put the details of the triad in a movie like this which is mostly targeted at children and would have things they do not understand. I like how the woman at the orpanage told Louis that he didn't really know the whole story and that prehaps his birthmother just couldn't take care of him, and he said, he had never thought of that.
I reckon it would have been depressingly difficult to track her down, and if he had met her face eto face, prehaps his future as it was would have unraveled, I do not know, it is a movie, and most movies on these topics are imperfect and someone is bond to find something about them frustrating.
The best things about the movie were, Louis learning to believe in himself, his friend learning the importance of not harping on a past failure so much that you don't have time to live your life and the acceptence, warmth and cheerful insanity of the Robinsons.
Things in real life are not that ideal, but it's a movie.

Also the really small hat was so cute. And the Dinosaur. And the fact that one of the women had this HUGE TRAIN! I want a huge train, that would be so cool, and also the UFO and robot.

And I am ashamed to admit the ending made my eyes get a bit wet.