1/5 Terrible, very depressing AWFUL film
  by
There is not one thing to recommend this horribly depressing film. Mike Meyers ends up with a gun shot in his forehead and I suspect he wishes it had happened at the start of this film so he could have been out of it earlier.

The accents are extremely hard to understand, especially the children who have the most dialogue so many of the lines are completely lost.You can't even turn on subtitles to understand what is going on as the only ones offered are in Spanish.The main boy is a truly unpleasant, mean character given to temper tantrums, spitting at people, kicking them, fighting with everyone. A viewer wishes he would be the one who gets shot just because he is so unpleasant.

The package asks if you believe in miracles. The only miracle is that this truly unpleasant film ever got made and released. AVOID IT!

1/5 Had potential but disappointed
  by
This movie tries to be hard biting drama with a message, but it got lost in a wilderness of poor srcipt and underdeveloped charactars.
The kids are annoying rather than lovable. I had no interest in anyone. We watched it to the end in the hopes that somewhere there would be a glimmer of what could have been.
Right at the end there's a good example of the poor plot.
The neighbours arrive to complain about the meteor and the main kid (who I cared so much about I have no idea what his name was) talks about how that started the "war of the metoer", but they won - no explanation of how, no footage of the war, just that they won. Why even mention this? Again, a plot line that goes nowhere.
Mike Myers didn't do a bad job - none of the actors did - they just had nothing to work with. This movie just seemed to be trying to ride the coattails of other recent Irish movies that do have good storylines. It was a waste of almost two hours.

3/5 Not as bad as has been claimed, but yes, it has its flaws...
  by ck_361
I bought this movie because I'm an Alfred Molina fan.

Firstly, I don't think this movie is the best movie ever, however, I don't think it's as bad as people claim. For the most part I could understand the accents (I'm not from Ireland). To be fair, I do watch a lot of independent and European films so I'm kind of used to making out accents, for those who aren't, there is no English Subtitles as a previous reviewer noted. There were a couple places, however, where I couldn't understand what was said. One time was during a heart-to-heart moment between Mike Meyer's character, Pete, and Mickey... not a clue what he said even after rewinding it twice.

I thought the kids were genuine and pretty good actors; they never broke from their character, which were kids dealing with the loss of their parents. I couldn't figure out really how the parents died... AIDS, somehow Pete was involved (getting them into drugs, perhaps), not sure, so that plot line falls short. Alfred Molina plays the part of a "mad scientist," but I wouldn't really call him that. I'd say he's more of a socially awkward scientist and he does well enough at the part. There's one beautiful piece of cinematography (not a lot in this movie, unfortunately) when he's up on a hill with his telescope crying: very nice (not his crying, just the scene). There are these strange "Teletubbie" sci-fi moments where you're half expecting a big baby face in the cloud to start giggling - due to lack of any budget I'm sure.

A previous reviewer notes that when the neighbors arrive to complain about the meteor the "...main kid talks about how that started the "war of the meteor", but they won - no explanation of how." I couldn't find that scene. The neighbors do arrive to complain after they get the meteor back, but the main kid, Mickey, says that started the "battle of the meteor," but it's very clear what he means, and he explains with the scientist on their side (Alfred Molina) they shouldn't have a problem keeping it.

Overall it's a fair movie, but yes, it has its plot flaws. Just think of it as a little-independent-mind-numbing-movie and you'll probably be alright, that is, if you can understand the kid's accents :) Good luck!


5/5 Wonderful little gem of a movie
  by
In complete contrast to a previous reviewer, I loved this movie. It portrays very realistically a family in a poor part of Dublin, battling with all kinds of problems, without ever being maudlin or depressing - in fact I found it quite heartening.

A wonderful performance by the little boy who plays Mickey, a surprisingly sensitive performance by Mike Myers, and good turns by the other actors; great use of color in the cinematography, and well-paced: one's interest never flags. A quirky little movie in a class of its own.

I've seen this movie twice on VHS and intend buying it on DVD now to add to my collection.

2/5 Pointless, unhappy, a downright waste of time.
  by Azien Munro (Vancouver, British Columbia)
I watched this movie because I was curious to know if Mike Myers would be able to do a serious role. He did turn his humour off but his character was too boring and had no in-depth consideration at at all.
The movie is about an Irish boy and his younger siblings going through a tough time in their lives, recently recovering from the loss of their parents. After a meteor ends up in their backyard, they conclude that it's a gift from their parents and go to an extrordinary effort to retrieve it after a dopey scientist takes it away for study.
The film lacks character and has no message at all. It was a sad movie with odd parts, and had no potential at all; I was completely ashamed with it. And why the young boy named the meteor 'Pete's Meteor' is utterly trivial; what did Pete have to do with it anyway?