spencer-w-hensley

In an era with reboots and successful sequels some work but many don't. Fortunately this one is an exception.

The 1984 original is not a good movie on any technical moviemaking level but it's a whole lot of fun and just one of the funniest goofiest movies I have seen to date. Truly the definition of entertainment.

This reboot is not quite up to par but comes close enough that I don't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who liked the original.

I enjoy that it's not a frame for frame remake as well. The story is essentially the same but the updates are fresh so you don't feel like you're watching the same exact story twice.

Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood are great in their supporting roles. It's nice to see a few familiar faces mixed in with those unknown at least right now.

And like the original film there is a bit of heart to it which helps especially considering it's a violent gore-fest as its original counterpart was.

It can't equal its original but it's still a whole lot of fun that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

In his negative review of Dead Poets Society Roger Ebert said that movie had Robin Williams taking a page from this one.

By the time the former had come out it was seen as pretty un-original stuff despite good reviews and box office and awards success.

Yet that movie had an ingredient this one does not supporting characters we could care about.

Maggie Smith does a good job to be sure, but Dead Poets worked because the supporting characters stood out when Robin Williams wasn't onscreen.

Here the supporting characters are either unlikable or not developed enough. I never felt like I got to know Miss Brodie's students like I did Williams in Dead Poets Society.

I was also particularly disturbed by a subplot about an art teacher having an affair with a minor. I know this was after The Graduate where movies were adding a bit more shock but at least in that movie the affair was between two adults.

This was presented as American Beauty before there ever was and it's really disgusting although in this movies defense it doesn't dive deep into the world of the sick mind that the latter movie did.

As for the parallels between it and Dead Poets Society I'm happy I've seen this to see the comparisons and while there are some good things here there are better and less disturbing moments in other teacher related movies.

Even the darkest bleak moments of Dead Poets are nothing compared to some of the filth here.

Perhaps if that subplot was left out I would have enjoyed it more but there are better movies about teachers out there than this overall.

Of course I love the Home Alone movies and watch them every Christmas. And while Macaulay Culkin also got to show more sides of his talent in My Girl and even The Good Son pretty much after the 2 Home Alones and My Girl his star was sadly fading. Richie Rich also in 94 was decent but Culkin was no longer the bankable name he was after Home Alone 2 sadly.

So what do you do, you get one of the best tv sitcom actors whos great on TV but had only made one good legitimate movie prior and team him up with an already fading child star and some movie magic should happen right? Wrong.

Now don't misunderstand me I do not mean to put down Ted Danson. Cheers is one of my all time favorite shows ever and he was great on it and I love his recurring roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm and even liked his short lived Mr. Mayor. Danson is not an untalented actor.

But let's be honest he's only had one genuinely good movie aside from his television work and that's Three Men and a Baby and that is a great movie but there he had a real script that was funny and charming and had good chemistry with Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg.

I feel Danson just wasn't an Alan Alda or Tim Allen type who went from tv to doing some genuinely good movies with the only exception being the first Three Men movie. I'm not even going to mention Baby got a sequel three years later.

He was fine in Saving Private Ryan but he only had a supporting role there as a lead only one genuinely good flick.

So I think Danson was miscast for sure here. His talents are more for small screen.

Macaulay Culkin can act well with adult actors like Joe Pesci, Dan Aykroyd and a few others but these guys are natural movie talents. Danson is just gold as a sitcom actor and only good in a movie if he has the right script as he did with Three Men.

I actually have not seen this all the way through. I tried twice because of my love for both actors but never was able to finish it. It's that bad.

Re-cast Danson with a genuine movie actor or a TV actor who has proven he can act in movies. Maybe John Goodman would have been a better choice? I know he did The Flintstones at the same time but like Alda and Allen Goodman is another actor who transitioned from tv to movies well, and have a polished script and this might have worked.

Macaulay Culkin's career was in trouble by 1993 as aforementioned. I liked The Good Son but most people said that was the beginning of the end.

Three flops in 94 with this stinker, The Pagemaster and Richie Rich which was actually ok but you could tell Culkin was feeling major burnout by that time.

Movies like this tell you why Culkin took a long hiatus from acting and why Danson has continued to have a successful career albeit on television and not in film. Sure he was fine in Saving Private Ryan but how many people even remember he was in it?

If you need to see any Culkin movie from 94 Richie Rich is the only decent one at best. This had potential but wasted by a bad script not worthy of either stars talent. Also directed by Howard Deutch who made The Great Outdoors and Grumpier Old Men. Not one of his better hours.