Remarkable performances mark "The Kite Runner"

Hollywood can hardly be accused of neglecting current events this fall. Yet so far, even stars as reliable as Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep have shot nothing but blanks at the box office when they've tackled Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and other hot topics.

That could change with the release of "The Kite Runner," Paramount/DreamWorks' starless but heartfelt adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's 2003 best-seller about growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, before and after the Soviet invasion. Largely because of its perfectly cast child actors, the movie has an emotional impact that the year's preachier topical films have lacked.

Like Hosseini's novel, it's a tale of innocence lost in a vibrant, beautiful Eden that quickly turns to dust after a series of personal and political betrayals. At the heart of it is the intense boyhood friendship that develops between Amir, the weak son of a rich businessman, and Hassan, the fiercely loyal child of the family's servant.

Even before the Soviets arrive and force the exodus of Amir's family, something is amiss in the boys' relationship. They may share the joys of memorizing "The Magnificent Seven" and winning a kite-running contest, they may defiantly shout "the two of us against Kabul!," but the roles of master and servant are never completely erased.

Hassan would do anything for Amir, claiming at one point that "I'd rather eat dirt than lie to you." This seems no exaggeration in the hands of Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, the remarkable 13-year-old actor who plays Hassan. His conviction is so pure, so beyond anything that smacks of naiveté, that you believe that he can't acknowledge his friend's sometimes condescending behavior.

When Hassan is raped by a teenage thug, Amir — played with just the right touch of guilt and envy by 11-year-old Zekiria Ebrahimi — watches silently, then compounds his crime of inaction by accusing Hassan of thievery. The families split, just as the country is divided, but years later Amir makes a redemptive return to his home. (Both child actors are from Kabul, though they've recently been relocated to the United Arab Emirates because of fears that the culturally inflammatory rape scene could cause reprisals.)

At this point, adult actors (briefly present in a prologue) take over, and "The Kite Runner" loses something. Hosseini's story turns melodramatic, with a David-and-Goliath twist that's hard to buy in the book and harder to accept when it's visualized in the movie. The grown-up Amir's showdown with the Taliban certainly generates suspense, but it's like something out of a Rambo epic.

The director, Marc Forster, who demonstrated his talent for handling kids in "Finding Neverland," does his best to minimize the problems that are built into the narrative. In the end, he almost succeeds. It's the childhood scenes, and the truthfulness of the boys' performances, that you remember.

John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com