This deliciously offbeat Canadian comedy gets its charm from marvelous acting and from a screenplay bursting with ideas. Great fun.

The kind of well-acted, genuine heartwarmer that some people complain Hollywood doesn't bother making anymore. And in this case, Hollywood didn't.

All of this is punctuated with refreshingly strange wit.

Wants to be a sex farce, a sports film and a serious meditation on Catholicism. To its credit, it succeeds as all three.

McGowan's film isn't just about following this boy's private quest to accomplish the impossible. It is also about how he affects the other characters in the film.

Even though it sprints along a well-trod path through familiar territory, Saint Ralph remains surprisingly compelling.

A tart and tender comedy that pulls off a little miracle of its own by being genuinely heartwarming without leaving any cloyingly sticky emotional residue.

As predictably uplifting movies go, Saint Ralph isn't completely charmless.

Tthe kind of movie the clergy can recommend to anxious parishioners.

Though Butcher is appealing, Saint Ralph is anchored by Scott's persuasive work as a model of intelligent decency.

Far from the sentimental drivel you might expect given the subject matter, this amiable and heartfelt drama about an adolescent boy's attempt to rouse his comatose mother explores the meaning of faith by tapping into the original, rebellious spirit of Christianity.

Little Ralph comes off like "Billy Elliot" on steroids. Still, this an energetic movie that can be truly hilarious in spots, and it captures perfectly the oppressive atmosphere of a Catholic boys' school in the '50s.

At first, Ralph and the movie have moxie -- the kid even gets busted for pleasuring himself in the public pool. Then Ralph starts asking us to take this cornball mission seriously.

Scott, whose sensitive turn as a priest inspired by Ralph's conviction and commitment gives the film a touch of grace at the cost of revealing McGowan's drab direction of every other actor.