In theaters

THE CIDER HOUSE RULES. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Written by John Irving, based on his novel. Running time: 129 minutes. Rated R.

Unlike Scott Hicks’ “Snow Falling on Cedars,” which tried in vain to capture every nuance of David Guterson’s best-selling novel, Lasse Hallstrom (“My Life as a Dog,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”) does the job right in “The Cider House Rules.”

The difference here is that John Irving, unlike Guterson, has adapted his own novel for the screen, a wise choice in a film that would have been unthinkable without Irving’s signature moments of childlike magic wedded to tragedy, innocence, fear and the sometimes searing rules of humanity.

But perhaps even more important to this particular film’s success is that Irving has a keen understanding and appreciation of film. He knows that in order for this adaptation to work, he must eliminate those subplots and characters that are expendable.

With Hallstrom on board in what’s clearly a collaborative effort, Irving does beautifully, streamlining his novel’s themes and ideas, plots and characters while still retaining the same literary tone and quality of the original work.

Set in rural Maine during the 1940s, this coming-of-age saga follows Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), an orphan at the Dickensian St. Cloud’s orphanage, and his relationship with Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine), the orphanage’s director and sole doctor who is addicted to ether, delivers the babies of unwed mothers, and performs abortions on request.

Hoping that Homer will one day take his place as St. Cloud’s director, Larch teaches the young man everything he knows, only to have his heart broken when Homer decides to join Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd) and his girlfriend, Candy (Charlize Theron), at the Worthington’s apple orchard. There, in the orchard’s cider house, Homer lives with a group of migrant workers, learning things about the outside world — and himself — that Larch never could have taught him.

Unabashedly sentimental yet never at the cost of its themes or characters, “The Cider House Rules” knows about life’s lessons. It understands the risks of love, knows there are no easy answers to life’s pitfalls, and sees clearly through the quiet storm of what it takes to maintain a humane society. It’s a terrific, heartfelt film that shouldn’t be missed.

Grade: A-

SNOW DAY. Directed by Chris Koch. Written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi. Running time: 90 minutes. Rated PG.

Chris Koch’s “Snow Day” is one of those films that makes tracing patterns in a carpet seem like a great way to spend a weekend.

The film is so unrelentingly awful, it stuns its core audience of children into silence, casting a pall over the theater with jokes that are so lame, performances that are so mind-numbingly bad, one cannot help feeling the biggest joke here is the one being played on those who paid to watch.

Here is a film that has the high distinction of featuring Chevy Chase and Chris Elliott at the bargain basement of their careers. As an underdog TV weatherman whose workaholic wife (Jean Smart) doesn’t know he or their children exist, Chase is a pint of low pressure in a Hawaiian-print shirt whose performance is about as loose and forgiving as the Ice Age.

More astounding is Chris Elliott’s turn as Snowplow Man, an evil snowplow driver who conspires to keep the roads clean so the film’s annoying cast of children will have to go to school (yes, folks, that’s the main plot in a film filled with too many subplots).

With teeth so rotten they’ll never be featured in a Crest commercial, Snowplow Man seems the last logical place Elliott can go. The man has never exhibited an ounce of wit and instead has built a career on delivering a gaseous ream of uninspired gas jokes — which, really, when you think about it, doesn’t so much take talent to pull off as it does a large bowl of beans. Grade: D-

Christopher Smith’s reviews appear each Monday and Thursday in the NEWS, each Tuesday and Thursday on WLBZ’s “NEWS CENTER 5:30 Today” and “NEWS CENTER Tonight,” and each Saturday and Sunday on NEWS CENTER’s statewide “Morning Report.”