This movie was fairly enjoyable for what it was, a teen melodrama with plenty of pathos and a nice romance and beautiful scenery thrown in. It was fairly engaging and you cared about the two main characters and their personal journeys.

Virginia Gardner was good as Mia, our orphan in search of her mom. She was spunky and upbeat, a little quirky but always endearing. Alex Aiono was also good as her reluctant travel buddy Kyle. He was sufficiently dark and brooding at the beginning, but later showed his sensitive side. The chemistry between the two of them was a bit strained at times, but mostly natural. The problem with most romances, teen or otherwise, is that there is too little screen time for the leads to develop the relationship. That definitely wasn't a problem for this movie. Almost the entire movie was about them spending time together. The other main character in this movie was the beautiful Spanish scenery, and you definitely got a good enough dose of it to send you rushing to Expedia to book your next flight to Madrid.

Was this movie unrealistic at times? Sure. I never quite understood why Kyle agreed to go with Mia on her Spanish odyssey in the first place. No compelling reason was given for Mr. Doom and Gloom to consent to this. I'm not sure why Mia wanted him to come with her either, except to drive for her, and because maybe she saw him as a substitute for her late friend Noah, who was originally supposed to go with her. The whole trip to Spain didn't make much sense either. If she were really looking to find her birth mom, it would've made far more sense for her to do more research and maybe even hire a private investigator, rather than just seek out everyone with the same name as her mom, in hopes of finding the right lady. It all seemed like an overly-contrived way of getting Kyle and Mia together for a road trip through a gorgeous foreign country. The melodrama around Mia's heart condition was also a bit much to take at times, as was the ridiculousness of Kyle sneaking her out of the hospital. Oh well, I guess we need to suspend disbelief quite a bit for a story like this.

I felt like the final meeting of Mia with her mom fell a little flat. So, apparently her mom was happy to see her. But they never showed any real interactions between the two of them. No dialog. No explanations of why she gave up her daughter and never sought to find her again. No indications of whether they would now have an ongoing relationship. Even though she found her birth mother, it all felt very unresolved to me.

I also didn't like the ending very much. I'm as much a fan of a happy ending as anybody, but I hated the way they did it, making you think she'd died, only to discover that Kyle was likely grieving at the gravesite of his friend Noah who died in the accident, and that Mia was fine and ready to embark on a new chapter of life together with Kyle. I fully expected her to die at the end of this movie. Though I haven't read the book, I suspect that this is what happened at the end of the book, but the powers that be decreed that the movie would have a happy ending instead. It felt very forced to me. If she were going to survive the operation, I would much have preferred that Kyle be there with her as she struggled to recover, and see his overjoyed reaction as she woke up and it became apparent that she was going to make it.

Though this wasn't a perfect movie, I did enjoy it, because the performances were solid, the scenery was beautiful and the message of the movie about valuing life was touching and poignant. Definitely worthy of a watch or two.

NOTE: Plenty of SPOILERS here!!!!!

This film surprised me. I do have to say right off that the general premise seemed rather unrealistic. Let's see -- a boy about to graduate from high school is in a car accident that kills one friend and (perhaps) permanently cripples another...okay...plausible. The boy is about to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff into a ravine. Still okay. A girl sees him and dorkily prevents him from doing so...okay...still somewhat plausible. Skip ahead ONE DAY, and she shows up at his house -- AFTER KNOWING HIM FOR ONLY MINUTES -- to convince him -- more like blackmail him -- to travel to Spain with her so she can find her actual mother after living her whole life with various (and mostly) lousy foster parents. Well...that's where I couldn't quite buy it. A boy is convinced to travel to Spain with a girl he doesn't even know (and his parents paying for it) to find her real mother. And up to that point, I had trouble buying into this film.

But then, seeing the chemistry between Alex Aiono and Virginia Gardner once they go to Spain...it was charming, while being a heart breaking situation for both of them, and even more so when we learn that the girl has a potentially fatal heart condition. How could you not like these two characters? How could you not have a great deal of empathy for what they were both going through? And the way they handled the ending...did she or didn't she live through the surgery...was done well and really kept you wondering.

So I looked up Alex Aiono on the web...never heard of him...but he is an amazingly successful (and upbeat) singer who is branching out into acting. And, while on occasion his acting was just a bit stiff, most of the time he portrayed a young man whom it would difficult to not like. He's worth following as he develops his career. I was impressed with him. Similarly, Virginia Gardner was quite appealing in her role.

And then there was the photography throughout Spain. Spectacular. I never had even the slightest interest in traveling to Spain, but after seeing this film, if I wasn't such an old fart, I'd be buying a ticket today!

Stick with this film for the first 15-20 minutes, and you'll be glad you did.

By the way...why didn't I give the film an "8"? For me, "8" and above is reserved for truly memorable films that everyone should watch. This film would depend on one's tastes.

Mama Mia!!! This film was a real bleeding heart story ... literally!

Some guys just have all the luck. Kyle is about to jump off a cliff when he is spotted by young Mia, who likely saves his life with almost comic intervention. But as an added bonus, she then invites him on a trip to Spain!

There was a lot of wallowing in victimization in this film. Kyle is morose because when he was at the wheel, he took his eye off the road. The subsequent crash led to the death of his friend Noah and the possible paralysis of his buddy Josh.

For her part, Mia was raised in a slew of foster homes. She is now ready to leave the nest of the kind Mrs. Rothswell. But first, she must locate and reconnect with her birth mother, who has become an obsession. Like a stalker, Mia has tracked the woman to Spain. But time is winding down for Mia who has a congenital heart problem that requires risky surgery.

Kyle was glacially slow in figuring out Mia's little secrets, even when he learns that the van awaiting them in Spain was rented by the now deceased Noah. The film grows more and more maudlin with each new revelation about the victims.

A central reference point was Mia's metaphorical understanding of Venus that holds a special place in her unsteady little heart. But the best part of the film was not the otherworldly experience of Venus, but the beautiful photography of Spain.

Only one word can sum up this sob story: heartwarming.