This is a surprisingly good heart-tugger which is so much more than just a high-profile publicity stunt.

Fans of the Sky Movies series Project Greenlight - which followed writer/director Pete Jones winning the contest and making his film - may have expected a disaster. Far from it.

The unknown scribe beat ten thousand others to triumph in the competition, sponsored by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and makes a fine impression with this charming film.

It's 1976 in Chicago and 8-year-old Irish Catholic Pete (Adi Stein) is warned by a fierce nun that he's on the path to Hell after getting into a spot of bother.

The boy decides he must get back on God's good side by converting a Jew to Catholicism, so he sets up a stall outside his local synagogue.

The liberal Rabbi Jacobsen (Kevin Pollak) humours Pete's plan - encouraging his friendship with his son Danny, who's sick with leukaemia.

Pete believes in Heaven and wants to make sure Danny gets there. He takes his priest's advice at face value and devises physical tests to make sure Danny makes the grade.

Danny's rabbi dad is supportive of this religious interest but Pete's fireman father Joe (Aidan Quinn) isn't appreciative on the Jewish impact on his Catholic son.

When Joe saves Danny from a fire the rabbi selects his eldest son for a Jewish medical college scholarship - but Joe's too proud to accept.

Some of the strongest scenes involve Joe's long-suffering wife, Margaret (Bonnie Hunt), who lays down the law, wanting her son to escape his working-class background.

First-time director Pete Jones clearly knows his topic and there's some sharp, poignant dialogue. This isn't trendy indie film-making - just heart-warming realism.

The adult actors are excellent, while the kids bring an unpolished charm to the movie.

For a $1m project, from a novice helmer this is really a pretty remarkable achievement. It's a damn sight better than an awful lot of other Hollywood movies being pumped out.

Aidan Conway