This is a well done film, filled with nuance and careful character development. It shows humans with all of their foibles and how they cope. The lead actors are very good, and Michael Caine truly deserved his Oscar. The reason for the less than stellar overall rating is due to the anti-choice fanatics that obsess over the fact that women are given a choice and then give the film low marks. The anti-choice fanatics show their obsession to control lives extends well beyond another's womb, but want total control.

I saw this movie many years ago (I think in the theater) and remembered really enjoying it. After watching it again, I still really liked the story. There's not really much to say about this movie other than the fact that it is extremely solid. Everything about it is good and it's hard to find many flaws at all in this film. Perfectly cast and well-acted, the story, emotion, score, acting...it was all right on, especially the script and performance by Michael Caine, both of which won Oscars. It's a really relaxing movie with beautiful scenery and soundtrack. Overall, this is a touching movie that I recommend to everyone.

The Cider House Rules is a great movie with a well developed plot and a very talented cast. It is a very hard hitting movie that deals with some very surreal themes. As we follow Homer Wells leave the orphanage that he spent his whole life in, we get to experience a young, naive man seeing the world for the first time, and being put in to his shoes in such an effective way by the writer and director makes it feel like it is our first time as well. I have to agree with the late great Roger Ebert in saying that this movie has far too many sub plots that is barely gets a chance to touch on several of them. I understand that it is based on a book that had all these stories, which works out fine for a novel, with a movie, however, it would have been far easier to cut it down to under five stories that could fit in to a two hour gap effectively. The cast is phenomenal from beginning to end, Tobey Maguire delivers a rich, layered performance, and his chemistry with Charlize Theron makes for an effective on screen relationship that is without a doubt one of the movies highlights. Michael Caine delivers one of his most versatile performances to date in this role, playing a loud, well spoken Amerocan, he showcases his range and takes home an Academy Award for this role, which he could not deserve more. Slow moving plot that is a pleasure to watch unfold. Well written with top notch performances, The Cider House Rules is certainly worth the watch for anyone looking for a good drama. A young medic clashes with his mentor at the orphanage where he was raised and takes a job on a cider farm. Best Performance: Michael Caine

This is a very well written, performed, and filmed movie. It stars Tobey Maguire as Homer - an orphan trained to assist the physician-in-charge of the orphanage. The physician (Michael Caine) is Dr. Larch - a gruff but loving step-father to his charges. The movie is set in the mid 1900's, in a Maine where abortion is quite illegal. Dr. Larch long-ago decided the law didn't make enough allowances and has dedicated himself to right these 'wrongs'. The movie deals with the coming-of-age of Homer: Originally seeing the sanctity of all life, seizing an opportunity to see the larger world, and eventually coming to agree with Dr. Larch's philosophy. As I implied at the beginning, this is a very engrossing film. I wish it wouldn't have been used (and not so subtly) to justify abortion on demand. After all, Homer's love interest uses it simply for birth control, so she and her boyfriend won't be embarrassed/inconvenienced.