Once More

The Magic of Belle Isle
Rob Reiner | 2012 | ½
Whilst spending the summer dog-sitting in an idyllic small town, a booze-sodden, wheelchair-bound former writer (Morgan Freeman) forms an unlikely friendship with an imaginative nine-year-old girl (Emma Fuhrmann), and gradually, whilst mentoring her (and spending time with her mother and two sisters – Virginia Madsen, Madeline Carroll, & Nicolette Pierini), comes to regain his passion for writing and, indeed, life, in this occasionally diverting but generally rather sentimental tale, which gets by for much of its runtime on the charisma of its central pairing, until its trite plotting, awkward dialogue, and unconvincing characterisation eventually catch up with it.