Mr. Rice's Secret
Owen Walters (Bill Switzer) is 12 and suffers from Hodgkin's disease. He has a group of friends who award points to each other for doing risky or strange acts. Owen's parents want him to befriend Simon, who has leukemia, but he rejects him as he considers Simon to be more ill than he, reminding him of his own mortality. He also rejects his best friend Funnel Head (Zach Lipovsky) to win the approval of bullies.
Owen's mysterious neighbour Mr. Rice dies, and Owen secretly videotapes the funeral to show to his friends. They go to Rice's house to watch it on his video player, and scour through his belongings, finding a letter for Owen. He decodes it with a ring he received from Rice, and finds that it is a series of clues leading to a secret. The boys go looking for the clues, one of which involves exhuming Rice.
Rice appears in flashbacks over the film, including one where he tells Owen "All people, no matter who they are, they all wish they'd appreciated life more. It's what you do in life that's important, not how much time you have." Owen finds the potion of life which allowed Rice to live for 400 years. However, he makes a recovery from his treatment, and instead gives the potion to Simon to save his life.
flashback