This is not a "date movie" and my wife and I saw it tonight, New Year's Eve, which was a mistake. I sat there for the last half hour of the film crying in my seat. It was that good and had that much impact on me.
As we walked out of the theater just about everyone was saying that the performance of child actor Thomas Horn was incredbile and the best and this kid is going to have a hard time trying to duplicate this role. So maybe his next film will be a comedy... it will have to... because he has hit the high note of drama.
Missing from the movie is more of Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Sandra delivered and really got the tears flowing. Tom Hanks was who I thought I was going to see more of and it was a disappointment that there wasn't more Tom Hanks.
And Max Von Sydow, even though he didn't utter a word, was a compelling actor. I've always liked him and have watched him in movies for decades. He couldn't have been better and this side story really added a lot of warmth to the movie, as did the subplot that reunited the Blacks after their separation -- which added the idea that couples can be brought back together after viewing the tragedy that others go through.
Go see it... but be prepared.