LEAVE IT TO BEAVER (Universal) Starring: Christopher McDonald, Janine Turner, Cameron Finley, Erik von Detten, Adam Zolotin. Screenplay: Brian Levant and Lon Diamond, based on the TV series created by Bob Mosher& Joe Connelly. Producer: Robert Simonds. Director: Andy Cadiff. MPAA Rating: PG (mild profanity, adult themes) Running Time: 85 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
In the production notes for LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, producer Robert Simonds comments on why he chose director Andy Cadiff (TV's "Home Improvement") for the project: "Of all the shows on television, 'Home Improvement' is tonally the 'Leave It to Beaver' of the '90s." That notion explains a lot about how the film incarnation of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER ended up as it did. If "Home Improvement" is our "Leave It to Beaver," that makes Tim Taylor our Ward Cleaver...only I don't remember Ward as a well-intentioned but emotionally immature doofus. The idea of a competent father whose advice actually means something is about as hip as saddle shoes and nickel malts.
The central character of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER isn't really Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (newcomer Cameron Finley), or his older brother Wally (Erik von Detten), and certainly not June (Janine Turner). It's Ward (Christopher McDonald), a decent guy and good provider who happens to have a truckload of unresolved issues to hamper his parenting skills. Today's Ward Cleaver doesn't gently guide the incorrigible Beaver towards learning from his mistakes. He's too busy damaging the lad's self-esteem by creating unrealistic expectations and appearing judgmental.
And it's too bad, because there's a silly, innocent quality to LEAVE IT TO BEAVER which makes it better than you'd expect from yet another TV retread. The comedy comes from the kind of predictably broad slapstick common in most contemporary comedies for kids, but it's blessedly free of toilet gags and exaggerated mayhem. Brian Levant and Lon Diamond's script (Levant worked on the syndicated "The New Leave It to Beaver" series in the 80s) is often surprisingly clever, and even more surprisingly clean. The performances are sit-com simple yet mostly appealing, particularly that of the agreeably adorable Cameron Finley. Even the problems faced by the Beaver and Wally are sit-com simple: Beaver loses his bike and struggles with playing pee-wee football, while Wally accidentally steals away the girl admired by his best friend Eddie Haskell (Adam Zolotin).
In the good old days, Ward and June would solve the boys' simple problems with simple but wise words of encouragement. In 1997, solving the Beaver's problems requires a trip to a family therapist and plenty of soul-searching on Ward's part; Beaver may be the one to mess up, but it's Dad who needs to learn a lesson. It's obvious that LEAVE IT TO BEAVER isn't meant to court the nostalgia audience, unless it is through the inclusion of Barbara Billingsley (the original June) and Ken Osmond (the original Eddie Haskell) in cameos. Those viewers might actually enjoy seeing the Cleavers portrayed as a healthy and happy family, rather than just another dysfunction waiting to happen. This LEAVE IT TO BEAVER is unabashedly 90s in a fairly depressing way: it takes paternal incompetence as a given.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 intensive care Wards: 5.
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