The Kid

Reviewed by: Marshame

July 24,2000

Return

I saw The Kid yesterday and greatly enjoyed it. Yes it was formulaic, and yes it includes a life-time supply of sly Bruce Willis half-smiles. But the kid is very funny (not over-acted) and it does set the mind to wandering - what would my 8-year-old-self say to me now? As "Rusty" said to Russ, "You're 40 years old, you don't have a family, you don't fly planes and you don't even have a dog? You're a failure!" Contrary to Russ' image of himself as a great success because he had money but no entanglement with other people. What I enjoyed was that Russ thought the reason the Kid had appeared was so that he, Russ, could advise Rusty to avoid the actions/behaviors that made him unhappy as a child, but then he realized that Rusty was there to remind him of what joys and pleasures he had as a child that he had forgotten as an adult. It was really quite charming. I strongly recommend this movie if you've had a rought week. Also, you could even take your mother to see it. As in: no sex, not so much as a kiss.

If you like spotting movie screw-ups, though, watch the plane. Sometimes it's a bi-plane, and sometimes it's not. It seems to change indiscriminately.

 

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