Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off

Well, not a great movie. Not even a good one. It could possibly be described as decent.

Then again, not my type of movie whatsoever, so I could be quite biased. I'm also not a young teen/child/whatever age group that Disney aims at these days.

Disney movies are usually silly movies that you can sit back and enjoy, without straining your brain at all. No brain-strain here, but also no enjoyability. I may have smiled once during the movie, but, other than that, no high points. No laughing, no grinning.. it just really didn't entertain me at all. Weak jokes, even weaker plot, but hey - One good thing can be said about it. It teaches children that sexism is wrong, or at least (I believe) tries to. I'm not sure how many children would get that out of the movie, but it was definitely there.

Kids'll probably enjoy it, from what I've heard, and it has a good message in there for 'em, too, so no harm is done by this movie. Being a 'decent' movie, it got a 5/10, somewhere in the middle, but the 'good message' aspect of it boosted it up to 6/10.

A typical upbeat kids movie but with a notable different message. The REAL story is that our hero, 14 year old Eddie comes out. The jock goes through all of the angst, guilt, rejection and fear that any 14 year old boy would have upon realizing he was "different." However, Disney, in their infinite wisdom, super sanitizes the story so that Eddie comes out as a CHEF instead of GAY. I wont criticize it too much because even this would have been a big stretch for Hollywood five years ago. Cute and entertaining if you don't have much to do. CMC, Sherman Oaks, CA

Hank Ogden (Mark L. Taylor) is a coach for a junior-high level community baseball team, the Groundhogs. Unfortunately, the team is much closer to the Bad News Bears than the New York Yankees. Hank's son Eddie (Taylor Ball) is one of the few quality players, and Hank thinks he has a shot of making it to the major leagues. Although Eddie likes baseball, he discovers that his true passion is for cooking. Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off is the comic tale of conflicting desires and expectations between Eddie and his friends, family and teammates over his aspirations.

Although some viewers may have difficulty looking past the exaggerated social beliefs and interactions fueling a prominent "moral of the story", this is a great, funny film that succeeds because of the style, subtlety and comic sense of director Paul Hoen, aided by excellent performances. I don't think I've ever seen food fights filmed this artfully before. Yes, food fights are clichéd, and much of the script, on its own, would be somewhat clichéd and banal, but Hoen and the cast manage to make the film feel fresh and original. I almost felt as though I had never seen a film centered around food before--your eyes are opened to the many metaphorical ways that such a commonplace thing is woven through our lives.

Of course, this film isn't just about food, though. Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off is intended to help shatter gender stereotypes--especially the way we try to graft them on to our children. The message is to follow your dreams, and be what you want to be, whether it's what others have planned for you, or expect of you, or not. At the same time, there's a message about supporting others in following their dreams. These are valuable messages for people of any age, not just kids, and the exaggerated and old-fashioned-seeming pigeonholing shown by the characters in the film are only cartoonish to emphasize the point.

This might all sound dreadfully serious and preachy, but the film doesn't tend to play that way. It plays as lighthearted, humorous and heartwarming. Just be careful that your kids don't have easy access to blenders and ovens after they watch the film, or you'll have some serious cleaning to do.

A 9 out of 10 from me.

First things first, I am so NOT one for Disney Channel Original Movies, I find them extremely annoying and most of them feature fantasy creatures or non-realstic scenarios. BUT, on Friday July 18th I sat and watched Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off and I loved it, that's right, I loved an original movie and I'm not afraid to admit it! I mean Taylor Ball is a great actor (not to mention good looking), that sounds so cliche, but have you seen the other movies, I know you don't think those kids are good actors, but Taylor is totally believable and does his job with ease. Orlando Brown, ok he annoys me but I'm warming up to him, I mean he wasn't always being silly like the line "Yeah well I don't think you making Eddie chose between having friends and cooking is helping either D.B." that was really well acted and I think he could have a future in other things, not just disney channel shows and movies. Reiley McClendon, I love Reiley, this kid is so adorable, and he's really funny too. And Rose McIver (Hannah) I had no idea she was a Kiwi, you couldn't even tell she's terrific at an American accent, she's definately going to go far. OK, only three things bugged me about this movie 1. NO ONE, would make fun of a boy for cooking! The boys are better at Home Ec. then us and they like it too, no one makes fun of them. 2. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FOOD FIGHT!!!! I have never been in or seen a real food fight, they are nonexistant, you would be in SO much trouble, no one I repeat no one! really has school food fights! 3. The girl who plays Bridgette SUCKS at an American accent, alright she can not do it, I don't know why they hired her, she wasn't fooling me for a second. My favorite scene is when Eddie goes over to talk to Bridgette and D.B. comes over and is like "What are you doing." and Bridgette goes "We're talking about the cook-off." and Eddie goes "No we're not." and Bridgette's all "Yes we are." and Eddie says "She's crazy." then D.B. says "Is something going on between you two." and Eddie's all "With me and Bridgette? Get real!" I LOVE that part it's so hilarious, and later on when Eddie goes "They're carrots, whatever you do to them they're going to taste like carrots." and the another funny thing is at the end when Eddie goes "I GOT LEMON!!" it's so lame, like out of context, it's freakin hilarious. So if you, like me, lost faith in the Disney Channel a long time ago, be not afraid, watch this movie, it's fun, not too silly, and has an actual message sorta. And if all else fails, it will make you laugh.

I absolutly LOVED Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off!! My mom gets so annoyed because I've watched it every time it has been on lol. One because it's a really good movie and two because well of Eddie :-D ;-)! I just love him.. what can i say.. :-P -Katie