Quote justindeimen, "I had the opposite reaction. I thought the entire back-end was ridiculously manipulative."

hee hee ...

it depends on what you compare the ending with ...
i think the ending is the "saving grace" because I compare the front with the end (as opposed to this film and other coming of age film).

based on this film alone, I think the front end is not very engaging ... and if it had ended in a less manipulative way, the whole film will have no selling point, being a rather uneventful/plotless film ... to some extent, I agree it is manipulative ... but it at least brings out several food for thoughts ... 

* possible spoiler * ... 

e.g., all along, they had a "family", and it was not necessary to find another family ...

e.g., even though three of them try to compete for the adoption, they still bless the successful one ... that's what i call BOND ... 

e.g., the scene whereby the young kid tried to fish, and the old man was terribly worried ...

e.g., unlike many films who depict girls from earlier days as always being conservative, this young girl is rather "proactive" in her demands and desire ...

etc

* end of possible spoiler * ... 

At least we agree on one point, that the film is not very great ... note i used the words "can watch" as opposed to "above average" or "recommended" ... hee hee ... Compared to many other films about coming of age, this film is unlikely to become a classic ... Kind of sad, because I think the 4 kids can act ... they are just not given the role of their life ...