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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 47 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
9 OK for kids 9+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    TV Guide | Ken Fox

    While probably not suitable for the wee ones, older kids and most adults will love this exciting and heartfelt adventure of one boy's survival during the darkest days of post-war Europe. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    An unusually intelligent adventure film scaled for younger viewers, which never leaves adults behind. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The movie meets the requirements of the "Life Is Beautiful" school; those loyal to the tougher, more stringent Osama academy of realism need not apply. Read full review

  • 50
    Dallas Observer | Gregory Weinkauf

    I Am David is by far the best after-school special to hit the big screen this season. Read full review

  • 50
    Chicago Tribune | Robert K. Elder

    The beautifully shot but dramatically strained I Am David falls prey to the defect of all poor road movies: In gluing together unbelievable but convenient episodes with sugary sentimentality, it loses most of its credibility. Read full review

  • 40
    The Onion A.V. Club | Scott Tobias

    While it's not always necessary for filmmakers to relate that closely to their material, Feig's marked distance from the story of a sullen boy who parts the Iron Curtain may account for its generic artlessness. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    The picture is essentially a tearjerker, with little originality or insight. Read full review

  • 40
    Chicago Reader | Jonathan Rosenbaum

    Unfortunately writer-director Paul Feig has a weakness for artiness in general and hokey art movies in particular, and the overall sluggishness of this 2003 adaptation starring Ben Tibber makes such devices as slow-motion seem like mannered rhetoric. Read full review

  • 38
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    I couldn't believe a moment of it, and never identified with little David. Read full review

View more reviews for I Am David on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 9+ Beautiful, gentle adaptation of classic novel.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie is intense but family-friendly. Sensitive and younger kids might be disturbed by beatings and a shooting at the labor camp, which are are strongly hinted but not directly shown. Also, protesters clash with police and David is given a bloody nose by an older boy, who later apologizes.
  • Families can talk about the communist bloc in the 50s, forced labor camps in eastern Europe after WWII, the plight of refugees, and following David's route on a map. The DVD provides helpful extras, including a map of David's route and information about real-life modern child refugees. Families can also talk about the DVD's extras, including a map of David's route and information about real-life modern child refugees.
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: David lies for self-protection, but behaves nobly and rescues a girl from a fire.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Beatings and a shooting at the camp are strongly hinted but not directly shown. Protesters clash with police. David is given a bloody nose by an older boy, who later apologizes.
  • sex false0 Sex: A scene of David bathing, nothing shown clearly.
  • language false0 Language: Not an issue
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A guard smokes.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

I Am David Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

So-so 61 fan reviews

Critics say

So-so See all critic reviews

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