Oct 1, 2016 2:40am PT
Film Review: ‘Milton’s Secret’
By Geoff Berkshire
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Momentum PicturesIt takes about 13 minutes for Donald Sutherland to first appear in “Milton’s Secret,” and for those 13 minutes (and perhaps a few more), one can still hold out hope that something will rescue this televisual Canadian production from its terminal blandness. Alas, even a prickly pro like Sutherland can’t do anything to elevate a hokey self-help lecture disguised as family entertainment.
Based on a kid-lit novel by bestselling (and Oprah Winfrey approved) “The Power of Now” author Eckhart Tolle, “Secret” centers on 11-year-old Milton (William Ainscough) and the journey he undertakes in learning how to process the stress of dealing with a school bully, a work-obsessed father (David Sutcliffe), and a neurotic mother (Mia Kirshner) who frets about the family’s economic stability.
The solution to Milton’s problem arrives in the form of Hawaiian-shirt sporting grandpa Stewart (Sutherland), who has radically changed from his days as a chilly, self-absorbed, military man and teaches his grandson how to live in the moment rather than dwell on the past or worry about the future.
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Director Barnet Bain has only one other helming gig to his credit (the all-ages obscurity “The Lost & Found Family”), but the earnestness with which he approaches the story’s well-intentioned hippie-dippie clichés falls right in line with his highest profile work as a producer on “The Celestine Prophecy,” “Homeless to Harvard,” and “What Dreams May Come.”
There’s a modest kick to seeing Sutherland essay a blissed-out seventysomething Zumba-enthusiast, but the script by Bain, Sara B. Cooper, and Donald Martin doesn’t give him any notes that are particularly juicy to play. Kirshner at least provides a suitable sparring partner as the disgruntled daughter who lashes out at the father who learned his lessons too late in life to benefit her.
But the only person who truly feels unpredictable here is Michelle Rodriguez, inexplicably cast as Milton’s teacher, and looking like she might punch out any random student who gives her a bad vibe.
Negative vibes are what “Milton’s Secret” hopes to help its viewers overcome, but it’s difficult to ascertain exactly who the film’s target audience is meant to be. Kids will surely be bored by the amount of time spent on adult characters arguing over money and family resentments, while adults won’t be interested in the story’s kid-focused perspective on learning to process anxiety. With a day-and-date release on-demand and in a handful of theaters, “Milton’s Secret” is in little jeopardy of being exposed.
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Film Review: ‘Milton’s Secret’
Reviewed online, Sept. 29, 2016. Running time: <strong>88 MIN</strong>.
Production: A Momentum Pictures release of a Buck, Riverside, Hulo production. Producers: Sean Buckley, Fred Fuchs, Stephen Huszar, Ryan Lockwood. Executive producers: Barnet Bain, Lawrence Greenberg, Berry Meyerowitz.
Crew: Director: Barnet Bain. Screenplay: Bain, Sara B. Cooper, Donald Martin, based on the book by Eckhart Tolle. Camera (color): Ray Dumas. Editor: Dev Singh.
With: William Ainscough, Donald Sutherland, Mia Kirshner, David Sutcliffe, Percy Hynes-White, Hays Wellford, Michelle Rodriguez.
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Audience reviews
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One of.the best movies I have ever seen. My favorite of all by Donald Sutherland. This loving grandfather taught his grandson a profound lesson that he will carry with him to the grave. I wasn't sure there were any more movies left that would crack my Top 5 but thus one did!
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The movie reflects the way of how we should be living our life. We always go too fast, think too fast, judge and criticize ourselves plus others and happiness is always somewhere in the future or in the past but not here. The movie teaches us to live in the now thought these ...
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Great movie if you are into Peace, Love and World understanding. Not a film for those looking for lots of 'this world' action success. Fun to share with a kindred spirit partner or friend. :)
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Milton's Secret
By Tinker Lindsay, Eckhart Tolle and Robert Friedman
4/5 (2 ratings)
192 pages
3 hours
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Description
Twelve-year-old Milton Adams feels his world is in crisis. With his parents stressing about their careers and finances, and the neighbourhood bully tormenting him, he is constantly anxious. But when Milton’s optimistic Grandpa (Donald Sutherland) comes to visit, he learns the secret to finding true happiness from a man who has seen the world and who has committed to living life in the “now”.
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Novelization of the motion picture film, Milton's Secret
Written by Tinker Lindsay
Based on the book by Eckhart Tolle and Robert Friedman
Screenplay by Donald Martin, Sara B. Cooper, and Barnet Bain
Directed by Barnet Bain
Starring Donald Sutherland, Michelle Rodriguez, Mia Kirshner, and William Ainscough
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