I really, really liked this film and now wonder why it didn't make more impact when it debuted. Perhaps it was just one of those films that slipped between the cracks because "Flipped" is a wonderful coming of age film--and is among director Rob Reiner's best.

The film is set mostly in the early 1960s. A young boy, Bryce, moves to a new neighborhood and almost instantly the girl across the street, Juli, begins mooning over him and acting like she's infatuated with him. But he's 7--and hating girls and mushy stuff is normal and he resists her charms. But she persists as the years pass--and she's convinced herself that Bryce is her dream boy. But, as the years pass, Bryce is just as convinced that Juli is a pest. However, eventually, Bryce's attitude starts to change...too bad Juli's is as well!

This is a remarkable film in so many ways. The direction is wonderful--perfectly paced and very sweet. The writing is also exceptionally sweet and enchanting. It also helped that there were some wonderful supporting actors to assist in telling the story-- some characters you really liked and cared about and a couple who were complete jerks. John Mahoney was particularly good, but the entire cast was wonderful in this movie. Overall, the elements all work together to tell a sweet story that anyone could love. My only quibble, and it's a very minor one, is about the music. Too many older films are saturated with oldies music. While a bit is nice, with some it sounds more like a best of record album...and at times I would have preferred "Flipped" to have been a bit quieter. Not a major complaint by any means and I still give this film a well deserved 9.

With a technique borrowed from Casino of the story being told from two different protagonist points of view, Rob Reiner gives us a wonderful family film about first love. Flipped is a lot less bloody and a great deal sweeter than Martin Scorsese's gangster classic.

The prosperous Loski family moves into the neighborhood where the ne'er do well Bakers live. On that day in the late fifties the kids that grow up to be Callan McAuliffe and Madeline Carroll set eyes on each other. Carroll thinks McAuliffe is the one, but such decisions at the age of 7 are sometimes reconsidered. And McAuliffe can't see her for beans, she's just an annoying girl which is not atypical for the second grade.

Moving into junior high school is a different matter. With the onset of puberty both these kids are experiencing conflicting emotions. McAuliffe acts like a jerk sometimes, Carroll expects a bit much.

The families are different. Anthony Edwards who is McAuliffe's dad is a bit of a fathead and has a thing about his neighbor's lifestyle. Their yard contains a chicken coop and is not in good shape and it's bringing down the values of the other property on the block. As for Aidan Quinn who is Carroll's dad and his family lives as it does in order to support his brother who lives in a sanitarium, an expensive private one for the mentally retarded. Quinn is a wonderful dad, but the Bakers live a whole lot like the Micawbers waiting for something to turn up.

The women are wiser than the men, Rebecca DeMornay and Penelope Ann Miller the wives of Edwards and Quinn respectively bond. McAuliffe also has the wisdom of his maternal grandfather John Mahoney to lean on. He's a surrogate grandfather to Carroll as well.

Rob Reiner came up with a real winner. The kids act like real kids as opposed to Hollywood kids. The grownups are neither all wise Deities or complete idiots. The women young and old do come out better than the men. I think everyone is going to like this one.

Flipped is highly rated for family viewing.

It's the summer of 1957. Bryce Loski and his family move into the neighborhood before his second grade. Juli Baker clings onto him but Bryce is annoyed by her. In the sixth grade, he tries to shake her off by asking out Sherry Stalls but they break up after a week. Juli loves sitting in a tree. One day, landscapers come to cut down her tree. She tries to save it but Bryce abandons her. She starts raising chicken. She gives eggs to Bryce. Two weeks after the tree got cut down, she discovers that Bryce is throwing them out. Her feelings for him flips. Bryce's feeling for her also flips with prodding from his grandfather.

Madeline Carroll is adorable. Callan McAuliffe is a little stiff although that's his character. The constant narrations should stop somewhere before the middle. Rob Reiner has created Norman Rockwell nostalgia and added melodramatic problems. The effect is partly endearing. The flipping between the two points of view is compelling. It's one of Reiner's better movie in his recent years.