ANDRE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1995 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
ANDRE is a kid's show based on a true story. It is set in late 50s/early 60s in a remote fishing village in Maine. The Dad (Keith Carradine) makes his living as an admitted inept harbor master. He is more interested in animals than doing the labors of a harbor master. His wife (Chelsea Field), 2 daughters (Tina Majorino and Aidan Pendleton) and a son (Shane Meier) form the rest of this Brady Bunch type family.
The show gets its only interest from a seal (the famous Andre) that the family adopts as a pup to nurse it back to health when he loses his Mom to a fishing net. The only reason that Andre became famous is that he in turn adopted the family and would not leave. His fame went so far as to include an appearance on, what else, the Ed Sullivan Show.
The acting is all straight forward as is the script (by Dana Baratta based on the book "A Seal Called Andre" by Lew Dietz and Harry Goodridge) and the directing (George Miller). This is your traditional, lets play it conservative and do nothing that could upset or offend anyone sort of show for little tykes. The movie takes no chances. Other than the obligatory, lets make them think someone is going to die scenes, it is a sugary sweet show. I found it frequently boring, but never offensive.
On a more positive note, the narration by Annette O'Toole is lovely - very melodic. Then again, O'Toole is such a beautiful actress, I really missed seeing her in the flesh.
For it being a true story, for the wonderful seal (he IS really cute), and for the absolutely wonderful ending scene (I came close to crying in a show that almost put me to sleep), I rate ANDRE **. I give it a mild thumbs down, and recommend it only to people under 13. My 5-year-old boy liked ANDRE, and he gives it a thumbs up, I should point out. The movie runs 1:35. The MPAA rates it PG for reasons that totally escape me. THE LION KING was more PG than this show which is clearly a G.
**** = 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: September 11, 1994
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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