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Over the years, there have been plenty of movies that exploit
the differences between adults and children. There's Big, where
a child becomes an adult, the various versions of Freaky Friday
where parent and child swap bodies, and Peter Pan, who simply
refuses to grow up. These stories all revolve on the fundamental
premise that children see the world in a different way to adults.
The Kid is the latest film to explore this topic, and does so
in a fairly charming way without being too preachy.
Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis) is a very driven businessman about
to turn 40. He is an image consultant, which means that it is
his job to make sure that his clients (usually high profile
figures) always look good when in the public eye. Russ, however,
is not so good at following his own advice. For despite being
very successful financially, he lives alone and manages to alienate
most of the people around him, most notably his long suffering
secretary Janet (Lily Tomlin), his bubbly assistant Amy (Emily
Mortimer), and even his old Dad (Daniel Von Bargen). In fact,
Russ Duritz is actually a bit like Ebeneezer Scrooge. And as
with Scrooge, something magical happens to try and help him
change his ways. Not the ghost of Christmas Past, but almost;
while investigating a suspected intruder in his house, 39 year
old Russ Duritz runs into 8 year old 'Rusty' Duritz (Spencer
Breslin) who has somehow been transported from 31 years in the
past.
The whole idea of meeting your childhood self and being reminded
of the importance of rediscovering a bit of 'the kid' in you
all sounds a bit sappy. But somehow, it doesn't get too bad
in this movie. Despite being a Disney film, director John Turtetaub
wisely plays down the sentimentality and infuses plenty of light
comedy (as he did so successfully in Cool Runnings and While
You Were Sleeping). There are a few key sentimental moments
in the film, but they are handled neatly, and most importantly
not force fed to the audience with the usually expected teary
string music.
Bruce Willis is his charismatic self in another role that aims
to prove that he is not just an action hero (his last three
movies have been the relative duds The
Whole Nine Yards and The Story of Us and the smash The Sixth
Sense). There is also excellent support from veteran Lily Tomlin
and the lovely Emily Mortimer (who you may remember as the girl
Hugh Grant almost ends up with in Notting Hill). But the main
star of this film is 8 year old newcomer Spencer Breslin. Child
actors have a habit of being too cute and annoying but Breslin
is great in a role that demands him to be at times moody, boisterous,
happy, sad, and funny.
One problem with this film is that it does not seem to know
what its audience should be. By declaring itself as Disney's
The Kid it is trying to attract children. But I doubt whether
many kids would find this film all that interesting or would
understand the underlying message. On the other hand, it is
a little light for adults, who probably would not show up anyway
(unless they were taking their kids along).
Overall this is a harmless and charming movie that it likely
to give you a few laughs. What would you do if you met your
8 year old self?
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