American comedy-drama film
Simon Birch is a 1998 American comedy-drama film loosely based on the 1989 novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and written for the screen and directed by Mark Steven Johnson in his directorial debut.[3] The film stars Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, Jim Carrey, Ashley Judd, and Oliver Platt. It omitted much of the latter half of the novel and altered the ending.
The film does not share the book's title at Irving's request; he did not believe that his novel could successfully be made into a film.[4] The name "Simon Birch" was suggested by him to replace that of Owen Meany.[5] The opening credits of the film state that it was "suggested by" Irving's novel. The main plot centers on 12-year-old Joe Wenteworth and his best friend Simon Birch, who was born with dwarfism.
Plot
An adult Joe Wenteworth visits the grave of his late friend, Simon Birch. He narrates over as the film transitions to their childhood. Simon is the smallest child in the history of Gravestown. His callous parents show little to no concern for his wellbeing. He loves baseball even though he almost never gets to play during Little League, and when he does, it’s only to get a walk due to his small strike zone. Joe's mother, Rebecca, got pregnant with Joe while she was on a train. Her refusal to reveal the identity of the father has resulted in Joe's reputation as the town's bastard child.
One day, Rebecca invites drama teacher Ben Goodrich over for dinner. He meets the boys and gifts Joe a stuffed armadillo. Simon takes a liking to Ben, but Joe is standoffish, as he just wants to find his father. Rebecca invites Ben with them to church one Sunday morning. During church announcements, Simon expresses his beliefs to Reverend Russell that church necessities and activities are irrelevant to glorifying God. Sunday school teacher Miss Leavey sits him in a corner until he apologizes. She berates him, saying he doesn’t belong in church. Outraged among hearing this, Rebecca argues with Leavey as she comes to pick up Simon, calling out her insecurities towards Simon’s faith.
During baseball, Simon hits the perfect pitch. It becomes a foul ball that hits Rebecca in the head, killing her. Simon gives Joe his prized baseball cards as an apology, to which Joe gives Simon the stuffed Armadillo as forgiveness. Joe's grandmother informs Joe that her own death is imminent due to her age, and there must be a plan for him once her time comes, as Rebecca never told anyone who Joe's father was, even in confidence. Simon believes that Joe's father may have taken the baseball that killed Rebecca. Deeming their gym teacher a fitting candidate, they break into his office to see if he has it, but it isn't there. Overwhelmed with despair, Joe vandalizes the office. The police chief agrees to let them off if they go to the children's retreat over winter break. Ben picks them up and takes them for ice cream. Simon tells Ben of his destiny to be a hero but admits that he doesn't know what that will imply. However, he fears it could happen momentarily, and might miss it.
A Christmas pageant with a Nativity play is organized by Leavey. Simon criticizes Leavey's poor creative decisions, resulting in Russell confiscating Simon's baseball cards until the pageant is over. The play proves disastrous as the turtle dove costumes look like winged mutant turtles, the wise men cannot remember "We Three Kings," and Howard's acrophobia causes him to forget his lines. It soon escalates to violent chaos when Simon, incited by seeing Marjorie's cleavage, makes a move on her. Howard's harness breaks due to his weight, swinging him back and forth repeatedly, eventually vomiting on Leavey. Russell suspends Simon from the church, expels him from the winter retreat, and denies him the return of his baseball cards. Simon admits he just wants to know God's purpose for him. As the church departs for the retreat, Simon comes by the church to say goodbye to Joe. Later on, he breaks into Russell's office to retrieve his cards, where he discovers the fateful baseball, implicating Russell as Joe's father. Simon has Ben drive him to the retreat to inform Joe, arriving just as Russell has already told him.
While Simon and Joe are riding the bus home, it crashes into a lake. With the driver abandoning the bus and Russell unconscious, Simon takes command and gets everyone out with Joe's help, but nearly drowns while saving the last child. Joe visits a dying Simon in the hospital, commenting how his small size worked to his advantage in evacuating the kids. They bid each other farewell before Simon dies. Joe's grandmother passes away that summer and he is adopted by Ben just before his 13th birthday. Back in the present day with adult Joe at Simon's grave, Joe's son, named after Simon, reminds him that he has a soccer game, and they drive away.
Production
Casting
The role of Simon Birch was Ian Michael Smith's first role in film, and he has not done film acting since.[6] Smith was chosen because of his small height, due to Morquio syndrome.[7] A hospital worker in Chicago suggested Smith try out for a role in the film The Mighty, another film that called for a character with Morquio syndrome.[8] When Smith didn't get the part, the director of The Mighty recommended Smith to Mark Steven Johnson whom he knew was searching for an actor to play the titular role in an Owen Meany adaptation.[8] After Smith’s parents read through the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany they agreed to let him work on the film.
Sandra Bullock was originally cast in the role of Rebecca Wenteworth.[9]
Locations
The bus crash scene was filmed near Ontario's French River.[10] The film's quarry scenes were shot at Elora, Ontario. The church featured in many parts of the film is in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Its black borders were painted white for the film. At the end of the film when it switches to the future, the borders are black. The baseball scene as well as many indoor scenes were filmed in Glen Williams, Ontario.[11]
Soundtrack
Simon Birch features R&B songs from the 1950 and 1960s, as well as four score cues by Marc Shaiman. The film's original motion picture soundtrack was released on compact disc, LP and audio cassette on September 1, 1998, through Sony Wonder, Hollywood Records and Epic Records featuring the following songs:
- "You Were There" – Babyface
- "Bread and Butter" – The Newbeats
- "A Walkin' Miracle" – The Essex
- "Mickey's Monkey" – Smokey Robinson / The Miracles
- "Can I Get a Witness" – Marvin Gaye
- "Fever" – Peggy Lee
- "Up on the Roof" – The Drifters
- "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (Part 1)" – James Brown
- "The Nitty Gritty" – Shirley Ellis
- "Nowhere to Run" – Martha and the Vandellas
- "It's All Right" – The Impressions
- "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" – Jackie Wilson
- "Simon's Theme" – Marc Shaiman
- "Friends Forever" – Marc Shaiman
- "Simon's Birth" – Marc Shaiman
- "Life Goes On" – Marc Shaiman
Reception
Simon Birch holds a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus calling the film "Overly mushy; tries too hard to pull at the heart-strings."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a 39/100 rating, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[13] Movie critic Gene Siskel rated it the 7th best movie of 1998.[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[15]
The film opened at #5 at the North American box office making $3,321,370 in its opening weekend. The film would go on to gross $18,253,415 domestically, against a $20 million budget.[2]
