I recently watched The Remote (1993) on Tubi. The storyline revolves around a young man who is deeply passionate about inventions and playing with remote control cars. He has a secret hideaway where he escapes to play with his contraptions. However, when he becomes trapped between three robbers in hiding and a bully, he must rely on his creativity to get out of this challenging situation.
Directed by Ted Nicolaou (Subspecies), the film features Jessica Bowman (Joy Ride), Chris Carrara (Clover Bend), John Diehl (The Client), Jordan Belfi (Entourage) and Tony Longo (Sixteen Candles).
This film comes across as a painful knockoff of Home Alone. While the storyline introduces main characters who are reasonably well-portrayed and easy to root for, it's under fortunate that the child actors badly outshine the adults. The adult performances feel awkward and forced. The love story adds a touch of fun to the film, but as soon as the robbers enter the story, it loses its charm and feels like a forced imitation of Home Alone. The remote control car scenes are fun.
In conclusion, The Remote is a below-average entry in the coming-of-age genre, but it's still worth a viewing. I would rate this a 4/10 and recommend seeing it once.
