Conrack

Small children should be protected from such whimsicality. Audiences, too, I might add.

It's a firsthand story, and Ritt and the Ravetches have kept the bloom on it, even with the addition of their secondhand touches.

The spirit behind Conrack is so relentlessly idealistic in tone and uplifting in intent that one feels vaguely guilty for not responding to the film generously and forgivingly.

It is such an exhilarating story and Jon Voight's performance is so irresistibly engaging that the film ranks as one of the season's best.