I know this is an old movie (1998), but I really just saw it for the first time! I thought it was a great movie and enjoyed watching it. I felt bad for Simon that no one seemed to understand his thoughts about having a higher purpose in life. His parents didn't seem to love him and the minister at the church, didn't seem to be able to handle his questions. He was lucky to have Joe for a friend, as was Joe, too.

He seemed to be highly intelligent, too, and many times, seemed MUCH smarter than the adults around him.

Someone at work is always talking about this movie and I finally remembered to rent it!

By Mommyof5 on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 10:31 pm:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that movie. We named our son Simon because of this movie. Our Simon was born with a birth anomoly (not the same as Simon Birch's). I loved the fact that Simon B. didn't feel like he was "defective" but rather he was born for a special purpose.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 10:59 pm:

He never acted like anything was wrong with him. He definitely believed that there was a BIG reason for why he was born! He sure couldn't convince anyone else of that, except for maybe Joe and Ben.

I thought it was interesting that after Rebecca died, that the boyfriend Ben, still stuck around and eventually adopted Joe. He didn't have to do that, and I think many guys would have just run away and left the situation. Ben really acted like a father to Joe.

By Lieska on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 12:42 am:

Have you ladies read the book the movie was based on? OMGoodness!!!! I finished it right before Christmas and it was good good good. Absolutely nothing like the movie (tidbits like the general story line) but very deep, somewhat dark,political, religious... but a great journey to embark on. Mommyof5 you might want to pick this up and meet the "real" Simon Birch... Owen Meany!!
The book is called A Prayer for Owen Meany. Don't forget the book is different than the movie.