Review: Stephen Daldry's 'Trash' Starring Rooney Mara, Martin Sheen, And Wagner Moura

It's an adaptation of a children's book! That's the only card directors Stephen Daldry and Christian Duurvoort can pull out in defense of their infantile "Trash," a film that will make you feel like a kid again, just by how tightly it holds your hands. Richard Curtis (writer/director of "Love Actually," which remains his greatest work) adapts the film's screenplay from Andy Mulligan's novel about a trio of impoverished Brazilian boys who discover a very valuable wallet while working at a local dumpsite. Parents now have a choice of whether they want to buy Mulligan's book (which I haven't read but have seen praised as excellent reading material for 12-16-year-olds), or watch how Daldry, Duurvoort and Curtis have interpreted it for the screen. Judging the film on its own meager merits doesn't really leave much room for choice. If the adventures and egalitarian messages found in the unfortunately-titled "Trash" appeal to you, do yourself and your child a...