DISNEY'S THE KID
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: A successful image consultant who
is rude to just about everybody gets a look at
how he turned out the way he did by meeting an
eight-year-old version of himself. Even
attributing much of what is going on in this
film to magic, there is a lot that does not make
sense. This is a mildly entertaining comedy for
those who do not think too deeply about the
logic of their films. Rating: 5 (0 to 10), low
+1 (-4 to +4) A minor spoiler follows the
review asking where we have seen this plot
before.
Russell Morely Duritz (played by Bruce Willis) is an image consultant. He is very successful at this. Unconcerned, he uses his talents to make society's slimeballs acceptable to the public. His assistant Amy (Emily Mortimer) tries to get him to reform him, but he ignores her efforts. Lately however, Russell's life does seem to be unraveling. He is seeing a red bi-plane flying overhead and occasionally buzzing his convertible. Nobody else seems to see it. There is a young child who seems to be breaking into Russell's property. But proof that what is happening is not in the realm of the natural is that this Rusty (Spenser Breslin) turns out to be Russell at age eight. This is an opportunity for Russell to see himself at age eight and come to understand better where he came from. Rusty gets a chance to see what he will really become: no wife, no dog, in short a loser.
Questions about what is going on in this film come in two types. One type is things that we can gloss over with the explanation it is all magic, the other flavor is real logic flaws. We can say that the fact Russell has very little memory of this strange interlude is magical. Part of the process is wiping the memories clear. It is a lot harder to explain why Russell remembers so little of his life at age eight. It is almost like he is delving into the life of a stranger.
DISNEY'S THE KID is light fantasy of the sort that when it works, you get a magical film like a BEING JOHN MALKOVICH or even a JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO. Here the magic makes the story run, but the magical never takes hold of the viewer. It seems like a strange complaint but this film has a serious lack of Wonder and the Wonderful.
Bruce Willis and Spencer Breslin do act well together. There is a certain chemistry between them. They do play off each other well. Lily Tomlin is present to be a voice of reason, Janet, Russell's righteous secretary. Similarly principled is Russell's assistant Amy played by Emily Mortimer of THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS and currently of LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST.
The problem is not that THE KID is lacking in magic, but that too much of the magic does not really work. I rate it a 5 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Spoiler...Spoiler...Spoiler...Spoiler.. .
I think the breezy summertime look of this film belies its actual origins. We have the story of a man nasty to people in and out of his profession. He is happy to go through life with no human ties except to his employees whom he abuses. He has little thought about the future he is making. Then through supernatural agencies he is confronted with his past, his present, and his future. Suddenly he knows what he wants in life and it transforms him into a loving and generous man. He will be good to his employees and will have human ties. Isn't this a plot we have seen someplace before? Maybe it might be connected to some December holiday?
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 2000 Mark R. Leeper
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