I loved the book "A Prayer for Owen Meaney". Many years ago, I saw a movie in the theatre that was based on the book. I thought it was called "Simon Birch", but I'm not sure. So, I rented the DVD "Simon Birch". Terrible, terrible movie - definitely NOT the one I saw in the theatre. Does anyone know what movie I'm looking for?

According to the Amazon book summary, Simon Birch was based on the book you mentioned...

Is the synopsis on Amazon accurate to your memory of the movie you viewed?

The video I rented was the one on Amazon. Although it is based on the book, it is very loosely based. The one I saw in the theatre was closer to the book, including the part of the story that happens in Viet Nam.

Simon Birch is definitely the movie you are talking about. It follows the book fairly closely until the end of the movie, which cuts off about 1/3 of the way through "A Prayer..." To be honest, though, I found the book to be over long and really preachy. I thought that Simon Birch was a much better story and portrayed characters that were more endearing. It was actually one of the few times in my life that I considered the movie to be better than the book. Though, I must admit, I am not a big John Irving fan.

The terrible DVD I rented had Simon dying in a way that was totally unrelated to the book.
The good movie I saw had the Viet Nam scenes from the book. What was the name of the movie?