The story, of course, concerns a pre-teen boy whose parents have recently divorced after a messy marriage and the physical abuse of the kid. Baxter, played by Scott Jacoby, ends up moving from California to England with his Mom. Neither parent shows any love or affection for him as they are both very self-involved and selfish. The boy is confused, angry and knows he's growing up faster than he should. He talks like an adult except for the fact the he has never learned how to pronounce his R's. Oddly enough, at the British school for Americans he attends, no one laughs or makes fun of him. I think they know someone deeper is troubling this boy.
He soon makes friends with a young married couple (one Brit gal and one French guy) who live in the same apartment complex and eventually becomes a surrogate child to the friendly couple who really take an interest in the child's life. The French shows a scar on his face, caused by the Nazis in World War II, to make Baxter feel less self-conscious about his speech impediment which didn't really make sense to me but, hey, at least he tried, right?
He later makes friends with a British girl who was spying on Baxter across the street with a telescope from a different apartment. They're both unsure about how to friends as they both have been alone in their own ways.
Later, Baxter starts seeing a school speech therapist played by Patricia Neal. She soon learns how much Baxter is unwanted by both of his parents and get him to starts to get him to speak properly some of time. She also learns that Baxter is beaten and left in a locked closet by his Mom after he breaks a telephone after being told by his Dad that a poker game is more important than him. The speech therapist show up at Baxter's apartment to find him after he fails to show up for school and ends up decking his Mom and then says 'I hate violence, Mrs Baxter, and tomorrow I'm going to hate myself for this, but right now I warn you if you so much as move, I'm going to break you into little pieces.'
Geez, was the Debbie Downer character based on this kid? I didn't even tell you the part where he tries to die standing up after he decides he's not wanted anymore after his girlfriend moves away and the French man's young wife dies of pneumonia. At the end of the movie, he decides to stay with his surrogate Dad who is still greiving for this loss of his young wife. Yikes!
The movie was produced in England and directed by the Brit Lionel Jeffries and I suppose the story resonated more with the British as the country was going through an impoverished time with high unemployment and there have been many families like this.
The acting is first rate but I'll be damned if I knew if there was a point to this film beyond the fact that all children deserve love and affection. That subject was hammered home continually throughout the movie. I still liked it for the subject matter even though I'm not sure I loved it.
