A GOOFY MOVIE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1995 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
The final part in our trilogy about the intellectually challenged is A GOOFY MOVIE. Parts I (FORREST GUMP) and Parts II (DUMB AND DUMBER) were live action films. The concluding piece is advertised as "Walt Disney Presents: A GOOFY MOVIE--It's hard to be cool when your Dad is Goofy".
A GOOFY MOVIE stars the classic cartoon character of Goofy. Normally, Goofy is given silly things to do. He then acts just as silly as his material, and it all works for some simple and harmless laughs. This time the producer (Dan Rounds) decided to cast Goofy in a realistic role and test the bounds of the character while keeping his IQ in double digits.
In A GOOFY MOVIE we find Goofy as an apparently single Dad. His son, Max, is in big trouble at school. Max tried a big stunt in front of all of the school body to impress a girl he is dying to date. The principal makes Goofy think Max is turning into a juvenile delinquent so Goofy decides a long fishing vacation all over the United States will straighten Max out. He just needs some good old quality Father and Son time.
Max, on the other hand, is portrayed as the cliched teenager who thinks his Dad is totally uncool and does not want to be seen with him. Moreover, Max wants to go on a date with his girlfriend to watch a concert by that famous rock star, Powerline rather than go on a vacation with his Dad.
I got very tired very fast of watching the stereotyping. As one who has a good relationship with his son and who understands that it is both quantity and quality of time that matter, I found the cliches a bit hard to take after a while. My 6 year old and I went together to see the movie. He spent a lot of time staring at Max trying to figure out what his problem was. He liked a few of the laughs but overall did not care for the movie that much. He got scared several times of something he could or would not identify--my guess is that it was the way the son treated the Dad and the way the Dad was shown as such a dunce.
If they wanted to make a movie about Goofy, then they should have found a better script for him. If they felt they wanted to talk about father and son relationships in a cartoon, then make the Dad at least a little bit smarter and the teenager just a bit more caring.
There was some parts of the show that were outstanding. I thought the colors were delightful; the rose and purple pastels were especially lovely and soothing. The sets were imaginative as well so that watching the visuals were a delight--too bad I could not have turned off the sound.
The character of the girlfriend was unusual and perfect. She was extremely cute without being suggestive. They drew her with large thighs and dressed her only in shorts. She had a radiant loveliness that made you understand why Max was smitten with her. I think drawing realistic and attractive women or girls is hard to do in cartoons. Artists who try usually end up with cute animals ala Minnie Mouse or sleazy women ala the one in Roger Rabbit.
Finally, there was one great minor character--the girlfriend's dad. Ever gone to a new girlfriend's house being a little bit scared of what her Dad might be like and how he might treat you? Well, welcome to your worst nightmare.
A GOOFY MOVIE is correctly rated G. There is nothing of the classic categories (sex, drugs, violence, or bad words) to offend. On the other hand, I was personally offended by the stereotyped Father and Son relationship. The movie runs a bearably short 1:17. I do not recommend it to anyone nor does my son. I am not sure who the audience for this movie is. It is too juvenile for teenagers, but only teenagers could really understand Max. I award the movie * 1/2 for making a beautiful film and for the character of the girlfriend.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEWED WRITTEN ON: April 17, 1995
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews