I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Chris Menges, who in 1992 directed the very fine, unusual drama "CrissCross", takes on another curious, strangely moving film with "Second Best". William Hurt plays a single, middle-aged postman in a Welsh village who wants to adopt a boy. We learn why, and we also learn why the young boy who's been selected has such a mercurial nature, but these themes (childhood-vs.-adulthood, rebellious-vs.-being loved), however topical, have been well-traveled. It is Hurt's performance which is something new. The way he moves his head quickly to avert an emotion or a confusion, the way he smiles when surprised...the man is, of course, an actor, but he's not actorly; he's not a beguiling trickster, he is an actor of deeply human emotions. When he loses his temper at the kid, it's not unusual to find him saying the next morning that he's willing to continue on this path. It's a refreshing piece of work by Hurt, who I feel has been erratic since finding major stardom on the screen. The youngster, Chris Cleary Miles, is kept low-keyed (he's very natural), while John Hurt is funny and fine in a brief supporting role. Alan Cumming looks a little theatrical and out-of-place as an adoption caseworker (at first I feared there would be a dreadful sub-plot involving Cumming as the villain of the piece). A fine film, though Menges does fiddle with a few camera tricks to convey emotions not in the script. It turns out these artistic flourishes were not necessary, as the main character and his desire to be a good, decent father manage to express a lot more. *** out of ****

Excellent film. Both the boy (Yapp) and Hurt were great. Seemed real life like. Hurt the lonely man, and the boy as one needing love. It highlighted the struggles both and to go through before they could finally come together as father and son. Also the musical track is great.

I've read the other reviews posted here and concur with all of them. The film triumphs in its realistic depiction of two broken hearts, Jamie's and Graham's. I think, in order to appreciate the story, one must have somehow experienced the psychic shock of childhood abandonment, either emotionally or by outright physical abandonment. The pleasure of watching this film, aside from the acting and cinematography, is having the sense that it will work out okay. At the very end, when Jamie walks briskly to catch up with Graham, slips his hand into the grownup's hand, and then walks much more slowly, one can see in their stride together the fulfillment each has received. I rewound the film at that point to see that scene again.

David Cook, author of the novel of the same title and also involved in the film, is known for his sensitive and probing treatments of characters marginalized in society. After seeing the film, I made a point of searching for the book, and at long last spotted a "galley proof edition" in a used bookstore in Oxford. The picture is faithful to the novel-- if anything, excessively so. Much dialogue is reproduced intact. A number of small incidents and gestures which seem inconsequential or puzzling in the movie were revealed as symbols or evocations of episodes which the book had fleshed out. Directors themselves so immersed in every detail are at risk of assuming too much understanding from the audience, depriving them of just another few words, or a brief camera close-up, which would have put a point across coherently. But these are quibbles, for there is enough depth and quiet eloquence left here to call for a rare ten stars out of ten.This is the story of an unlikely relationship which succeeds as the mutual balm for unusual wounds. The man Graham and the boy Jamie both suffer profoundly from separation from their fathers-- physical separation in Jamie's case (his adored dad is in prison), emotional in Graham's. Each discovers that the other cherishes the memory of just a few days of filial closeness, shattered shards of supreme bliss sparkling in the dismal landscape of their emotional lives. Yet not only does Graham, a candidate to adopt Jamie, lack the primary qualification for a stepfather: a wife. He is a shy nerd with no obvious charisma whatsoever for a hyperactive, street-wise, cynical kid.But traumas in his past have stamped this boy with a vehement misogyny. As little as he fancies anyone presuming to take his father's place, he craves having a stepmother even less. Graham's bachelorhood is a relative advantage. Graham proves himself gradually with humility, honesty, and a quality of unfailing respect for the person struggling underneath Jamie's sullenness which one can only describe as reverence. A "special-ed" teacher of my acquaintance called Jamie (and Chris Cleary Miles' passionate characterization) very realistic, and pronounced Graham (as brought to life masterfully by William Hurt) "a genius" in his approach to the developing relationship.While some will complain that this film drags, others will value its quiet atmosphere in which heart-codes are patiently decrypted. The more important the dialogue is, the likelier it is to approach whispers. One crucial central scene, barely audible, as the haunting strains of the score's "rift" theme echo away more faintly still, never to be heard again, must be one of the tenderest moments ever captured on celluloid.Perhaps Graham has been plagued by a touch of agoraphobia. The cinematography deftly suggests this world view: interiors of small rooms, fussy wallpaper, obtrusive props, brilliant curtains covering the windows; exteriors somehow painting scenes of ravishing beauty with brushstrokes of vague terror.Graham Holt is an unlikely hero, but a true one. If more people treated one another the way he does, the world would be a better place.