watched this last night with my parents! it was a very touching movie.
basically it's about a boy who loses his dad during the 9/11 tragedy. it shows him snooping into his father's closet and finding a vase with an envelope with 'Black' printed on it. inside, lies a key. he then made it his goal to figure out what his father wanted him to find out.
he took name books and circled all the Black's, listing them into areas where they live, and making sure he visits them every time that he can. because of this little 'adventure' of his, he drifted away from his mother. it was sad, really, watching the scene where he leaves the house, and his mother just stands there watching him leave. he did whisper i love you from under the door though, which I thought was rather sweet.
anyways, he was a very clever little boy. he processes everything so quickly and has his own way of dealing with things. he even has a walkie-talkie which he uses with his grandmother who lives next door. "
grandma, are you awake? over."
at the same time, there was a man staying at his grandma's, someone his grandma refused to let him meet. but somehow he managed to meet the old man, told him everything he's been through, and the old man just stood up and wrote on his paper (he couldn't speak) "I'm tired. I go to sleep." and that was the end of that. haha kinda funny actually. I expected him to collapse on the floor declaring a heart attack or something LOL
before the boy left, the old man offered to go on his adventure with him. he said yes, which he regretted immediately after. it was cute, the two of them going out to find the lock to the key. in the end, the boy was already giving up. he went through so many Black's, so many pictures of them, moments with them. but still no where near the lock. He asked the old man, whether he thinks there's a lock for the key. "
YES." then, he asked, whether he thinks they will find that lock. "
NO." between the adventures, the boy, being so sharp at his age, already figured out that the old man was his grandfather. therefore he enjoys the adventure a little more, with someone so alike his father guiding him through. :)
the twist arises when he returns home from their 'last' adventure. he revises the newspaper clip his dad left for him, where he circles the words '
don't stop looking', and realized there's another thing behind that is circled. it was a phone number. he called it. and it brought him on his final adventure.
that number belongs to a broker, who somehow was expecting the boy already and brought him to her ex husband, who she says might know where the key belongs to. turns out his father bought that vase for his mother for their anniversary, from said ex husband. such a lovely miracle that all this while THAT man was searching for the key too, as his late father left him a note before he died, saying that the key inside the blue vase was for him. but at the time it was already too late as he sold off the vase. isn't beautiful how everything turned out? :)
it was a happy ending for the man, but sadly not for the little boy. he ran all the way home and cried, tearing all the maps, scrapbooks he made throughout the months. his mother came in and calmed him down. then
jeng jeng another plot twist. (this is where I cried the most omg) turns out his mother knew about all his adventures, and she went to all the Black's which she think he might visit on the day and tell them about what happened, and to expect him coming. so touching omg like really. everyone cried at their story. there was one mother with 5 noisy kids, and one of the kids drew him a picture of him holding the key in his hands. :') just many different kind stories he experienced with many different people. the most beautiful thing i have ever watched.
so with that, I guess he finally let go.
to end, he wrote a letter to all the Black's he visited, thanked them and mentioned how he found the rightful owner to the key. everything was good, his grandfather eventually got back together with his grandmother. and the broker who lead him to her ex husband, they got back together too. :)
more importantly, the boy was finally able to let go.
sometimes there are things in life which only hurt ourselves if we don't let go. the harder you hold onto it, the more it hurts you. sometimes you cannot change something that has happened, so what else is there to do but move on?
:)