Waking Up Horton

Plan 9 From Outer Space is masterful compared to this one! The opening scene has a 19th century American Indian with a Brooklyn accent and his grandmother, whose demeanor and performance are reminiscent of Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck, traveling to a local village with buildings obviously not much larger than phone booths. Soon a salty old trader appears with a phony beard that's literally peeling off of his chin. He tries to kill the young brave, but is foiled by grandma who has changed into a wolf. The plot then segues to the present, with Dirk Benedict playing a movie star acting in a bad movie about 19th Century American Indians, directed by a bizarre woman with a Polish? accent. ENOUGH.

I purchased the movie because Dirk Benedict is in it. I was delighted to find an interesting plot and charming characters -- Horton the indian is a lot like Drop Dead Fred. And Dirk, as always, is beautiful and talented, and well-suited to an older romantic lead.