1. A quiet, positive little film. We can use more of them.
2. Surely there is room in the movies for a small film with an unabashed, even old-fashioned but timeless humanist spirit - and a triumphant portrayal by a veteran star that is likely to be regarded as one of the year's best.
3. Merely another entry in the unnecessarily crowded field of Old Guy Befriends Young Boy and Teaches Him About Life movies.
4. The [movie's] two halves are larded with European coming-of-age cliches... and never meld into a satisfying whole.
5. Thanks to Sharif's performance, this French-language import is made quite watchable.
6. A slight-but-charming French heart-warmer that gives Omar Sharif his best role since... well, since Lawrence of Arabia.
7. Sharif still has that twinkle in his eye and a commanding screen presence.
8. [Pierre] Boulanger joins Keisha Castle-Hughes of Whale Rider as one of this year's strongest juvenile performers.
9. Charming but sentimental...
10. Unbearably life affirming and quasi-spiritual... [Sharif] dispenses bromides like a watery-eyed, Middle-Eastern Forrest Gump.

Write a one sentence summary of the reviews above.
With tender, assured performances, Sharif and Boulanger elevate what might have been a rote coming-of-age tale.