karriebw

Surprisingly fun film! Lots of clever lines and good surprises in this family film. The family in it is very likable - and seem like they could be a family on one of the TV comedy shows. The father, mother and young son all have a vulnerability that is charming and endearing. They seem real and believable. Moving to a new town is always challenging - and here we follow the family that gets into trouble - but in a different way than we've seen before. The father- son relationship is also quite good. It shows caring but not sappiness. When the boy gets attacked by bullies, it could be even stronger - but seems like they wanted to keep it lighthearted all the way through. It's unusual to see a comedy film that tries to end with a message about "stopping bullying" - but this one does it with funny twists and turns rather than making it shocking and sad. Overall, have to say many lines were laugh-out- loud, and the young actors did a really good job. For a small film with no name actors, everyone did commendable acting and made it work as a nice family comedy. Had the flavor of a "Home Alone" or "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Enjoyed it with the kids. Definitely laughed out loud in a number of places.

The poster for the film is cute - and I like dogs -- but the movie is very juvenile. Young children may like it, but it's not clever enough or funny enough for parents or even older teen children. The idea of making the dog invisible is fun - but most of the actors are too broad and it's a rather sit-com kind of plotting. Seems like if you have a story that involves villains, the FBI, kids and a dog - there could be more complexity - but here it's very simplified, like a half hour situation comedy. The dog in it was actually very cute -- wish it could have done more. The acting was all okay, but not the caliber of higher budget films. The daughter was probably the best of the lot. Overall, the film may work for kids... but no thumbs up for adults.