Mac and Me

I know it's a little silly to write a review of a film 15 years after its release. But this poorly done film made its way onto one of my cable movie channels last night, and I feel the need to have a violent, outward reaction outside of the projectile vomiting I experienced.

People, this film is bad. Really bad. Bad like "Showgirls" bad, where it's so bad, it's both insulting and laughable simultaneously. And forgive me, but anybody who finds this 95-minute commercial for McDonalds and Coca-Cola to be warm-hearted or well done in any way knows not a thing about what makes a movie good, and needs a great deal of emotional counseling.

First, let's reiterate that point about this being an extended commercial. Folks, it is. The product placement in this film is shameless.

Next, there are basic things that make a film "good," like strong acting, a well-written script, superior camerawork or quality special effects. "Mac and Me" has none of these. Wooden posts would have made for better actors. The script clunks and thuds with every ridiculous, uninspired line. And the alien creatures of the film, with their bug-eyes and protruding bellies, look about a life-like as melted candles.

I also have to make a point of just how much of a rip-off of "E.T." this film was. Not only is the plot just a poor carbon copy, but even the title of this attrocity becomes an act of thievery when it's revealed that "Mac" stands for "Mysterious Alien Creature." I'm not even the biggest fan of uber-cutesy "E.T." either, but at least there the attempts at manipulation are somewhat subtle. Here, the filmmakers fell just short of subtitles at the bottom of the screen that said "LAUGH HERE" and/or "CRY NOW."

And the cherry atop Stewart Rafill's bile sundae? The scene inside a McDonald's (Our aforementioned sponsor) when normal, everyday patrons suddenly and spontaneously spring to life into a choreographed dance sequence. Yeh, that happens at the Greasy Mac's on Route 1 near my house every freakin' day.

Saps only will buy into laughable hunk of junk... for the rest of you out there, I recommend this movie only if you're looking for new additions to your Ten Worst List.

I remember seeing this movie in the theater when it came out in 1988. ( I was eleven). I think i almost died laughing at the part when that kid in the wheelchair went rolling down the hill. I just remember crack ing up out loud. If you have somewhat of a cruel sense of humor, you have to rent this movie just for that part. It's hilarious! Other then

that this movie pretty much bit the dust. Pretty obvious who sponsored this movie. You couldn't go five minutes without seeing somebody eating McDonalds or drinking Coca-Cola. Overall, I recommend this movie to any soccer mom you wants to promote bad haircuts,junk food, and night mares of gangly, demented looking aliens who are obsessed with pucker ing their lips to their kids.

Mystery science theater 3000 just riffed this movie. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know, I don't know what will.

The dance party scene was such subtle product placement. I can't say why exactly, but for some reason I was left craving a Big Mac after watching the movie. Hmmm....

If anyone can watch the dance scene and tell me exactly why it was in the movie, I would love to hear it. Also perplexing were the jogging scene with musical score (even Phil Collins at his worst would have been an improvement) and the cameo by that annoying red-headed kid from 'Different Strokes'. Perhaps someone who has watched the movie repeatedly and considers it a cult favorite could enlighten us....?

I do like the fact that the producers cast a kid in a wheelchair as the star, but the writing was awful and the plot was laughably bad. It was an ET knock-off right up to the end, where you will find a shocking conclusion rivaled only by "The Usual Suspects"!

"Mac and Me" was one of the more infamous box office duds of its time. While this would dissuade normal folks from watching it, bad movie buffs like me naturally gravitate to it because it is such a legendary flop. The biggest reason it failed--the public quickly saw it for what it really was--a blatant rip-off of "E.T.". And, this time even MORE corporate references are thrown in the viewer's face...with McDonald's and Coke references galore!! Instead of Reese's Pieces, they feed this god-awful corporate shill Skittles! And, to revive Mac's family who are on the edge of death, they feed them Coke!!!

The film begins with an incredibly ugly family of aliens mysteriously getting sucked into a US space probe. They are then deposited on Earth and their baby, Mac, is lost and must find its way home. In the process it meets a nice disabled kid and makes his life complete. But, when it's no longer safe, he and Elliot, I mean Eric, go on a cross- country race to find his parents and get him home--and evade capture. And to do this, they dress him up in a Halloween-type costume! Need I continue?!

So is the film any good? Well, if "ET" had never been made, sure it would have been reasonably entertaining to very young kids who didn't notice that the film was a giant commercial and who wouldn't notice the bad dialog and abounding clichés. But "ET" HAD BEEN ALREADY MADE several years earlier...so the film has zip when it comes to originality. You wonder how the folks associated with the film felt--they must have been really embarrassed at how blatant this was. And, at just about every turn it seems to do it worse than "ET"...and often MUCH worse. It's a vacuous, soul-sucking corporate mess of a film in so many ways.

When I saw this film tonight, it was decades after its original release and I was startled how ugly and expressionless Mac was. However, I had to remind myself that ET also looks pretty crappy when you see him today because we are used to much better special effects in 2015--though Mac is definitely crappier. The worst is when the dead, expressionless doll is riding on Eric's lap during the big chase! As for the outer space scene, however, I watched it on a very big screen TV and I was surprised because it looked so nice. This space scene along with actually hiring a disabled kid to play a disabled kid are about the only things that impressed me about the film. Otherwise, a pointless rip-off from start to finish---and not even bad enough to make bad movie buffs laugh. But enough overt corporate references to make this a GREAT film to use as a drinking game--taking a shot every time you saw these blatant ads! Believe me, you would get stinking drunk if you tried this!!

By the way, the kid calls the hideous little alien 'Mac'--an acronym for Mysterious Alien Creature. In no way was this meant to be like 'ET' for the Extra-Terrestrial....yeah, right! Also, perhaps it's just me, but this might just be the most whitebread, corporate and uncool film ever made--especially during the god-awful McDonald's dance scene.