How sad is this?

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I fell asleep 3 times, on three different occasions, trying to finish this movie. Boring, acting is dull, story is dull, everyone has the same facial expression through the entire movie. Even the action sequences put me to sleep. I really couldn't stand this movie. Awful. Terrible. Don't watch it.

At 111 minutes, this "Midnight Special" turns into an endless experience, watching something that you have seen many times before with variations and different casts, including Martin Stephens in "Village of the Damned", Jeff Bridges in "Starman", Haley Joel Osment in "A.I. – Artificial Intelligence", and a rubber puppet designed by Carlo Rambaldi. My admiration for Jeff Nichols' films grew every time he released a new title, from "Shotgun Stories" in 2007, to "Take Shelter" in 2011 and "Mud" in 2012. However, this time he has gone the way of the big scale special effects frenzy with unfortunate results: it is so silly and simplistic, so lacking in finesse and humor, that I could not believe that it was the work of the same director. Nichols had previously been so delicate and perceptive of human condition (including "Take Shelter", a movie about ESP), and dealt intelligently with the innocence of boyhood, and the benign, naive side of manhood. This time again there is something similar in the core of the story, but the father seems too dumb and the kid too foreign to any credibility. If Nichols did not intend this story as a metaphor of Jesus Christ's passion (my goodness!), leaving the Holy Spirit out of this plot, then it also leaves an open door: how did this human-like E.T. end up in this world, having too earthlings as parents? I do not know who cares for a sequel, but I do not. The best thing in the film is Joel Edgerton as Lucas.

The movie is what you would call a different movie or a fresh movie from the general type of sci-fi movie. The film is an unusual story about a special powered boy and his father struggling against the world and their interpretation of the boy's power. Beautiful cinematography and some cool moments about human understanding of the unusual powers are a highlight. It's a slow paced film with a story which is not for everyone. Highly recommended for sci-fi fans who want a fresh new pick for their sci-fi appetite.

The latest work by up and coming writer/director Jeff Nichols isn't as entertaining as I would have hoped, nor is the more artsy aspect of it particularly avant-garde, but it's a well-directed and beautiful piece of filmmaking. It follows a boy who possesses extraordinary powers as he struggles to find out who - or what - he is, while being chased by both the US Government and a religious cult which has formed around him and sees him as God. I have to admit, the plot is quite linear and doesn't tend to wander off course. However, the course which Nichols has selected isn't, I believe, the most interesting, entertaining or exciting one. The story just goes and goes and goes and goes and then ends quite abruptly. The main positive points of the film were its gorgeous score and minimalist tone throughout. Little emphasis is put on dialogue, which is challenging for the cast, who hold the piece together remarkably well. Nichols' writing is excellent and it is very well shot. The ending is also very emotional and sad in a way. But the luscious ambient score is definitely one of the high points, especially in an era of identikit orchestral fanfares and high-energy strings.8 / 10 (Great). More of a film for a lazy day as opposed to a weekend with your friends, but I get the feeling that having landed Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon and Adam Driver - as well as the very talented Jaeden Lieberher - we haven't seen Nichols at his peak quite yet. But, by all means, this bodes well.