Based on the famous trouble making comic strip character; Dennis Mitchell (Mason Gamble) is a five year old boy who means well, but accidentally causes trouble that puts his next door neighbor Mr.Wilson (Walter Matthau) into constant peril. After a good 45 minutes or so of Dennis interacting with his friends and messing things up for Mr.Wilson, Dennis' parents are both called away to go on business trips and with no one in the neighborhood willing to watch over Dennis for the weekend, they give the job to a reluctant Mr.Wilson, who's hosting a party that very same weekend that involves a rare orchid that Mr.Wilson has been waiting to finally bloom after 40 years. Meanwhile there’s a traveling homeless thief named Switchblade Sam (Christopher Lloyd), who's been robbing houses in the neighborhood, and I'm just going to take a wild guess that Dennis will eventually encounter this evil bandit after screwing things up for Mr. Wilson and give him the same unintentional amount of misery that he gives to Mr.Wilson. As you may have guessed, the film is utterly predictable, but if it had good characters, a lot of funny humor, and a good message with plenty of heart, the obvious storyline would be forgiven (like in "Home Alone" for example), but unfortunately the film offers very little of that stuff.
Mason Gamble as our innocent trouble maker Dennis, for a kid who is trying hard to portray the role of Dennis, he at the very least does a decent job. Despite not at all being a good actor with his delivery that at times gets annoying nor helps the poorly written humor, he still is decently fitting as this curious kid that accidentally causes mischief to others who occasionally at times brings a good laugh here and there with his cute innocent reactions and behaviors. Is he good with the drama moments that the film throws at us, no, but at least there is a sense of some kind of effort being put into his performance, even if it doesn't come out as effectively as he tries to make it out to be. Walter Matthau as the grumpy next door that has to suffer all the abuse whenever Dennis is around does just as decent job of a job as our lead star does. He's obviously a better actor compared to the kid playing Dennis, and fits the role of playing an old and grouchy man well, but there's hardly anything for him to work with. The film's story that involves the rivalry between him and Dennis isn't as fleshed out compared to the other works by John Hughes like "Home Alone" or "Planes, Trains, And Automobiles" for example. Remember how the main characters in those two films don't get along, but as they go on their comical journey they change and grow strong after learning a heartfelt lesson that changes their relationship, this film doesn't have any of that. Now there are a few scenes where the film is trying to be emotional by having Mr.Wilson realize that Dennis only means well and that he finds himself to be a little too hard on him, but not only does that aspect feel phoned in to forcefully make us feel bad for him, but every thing that Wilson learns on his journey is completely forgotten and pushed aside in the end! On top of it, why did the film just focus on Mr.Wilson trying to better himself, why not Dennis as well, especially since he's the main character? He's the one causing all the mischief that’s life threatening to Mr. Wilson, and while he is a kid and that the amount of mischief he causes are completely unintentional, wouldn't it be a nice idea to see Dennis grow-up a bit to learn to be more careful and consecrate around people with Mr.Wilson reluctantly helping him as he understands the joy that children bring and to not to be so hard on them? I mean seriously, this film is written by the same writer who taught kids the power of family through the perspective of a kid who was left home alone that was both humorous and touching!
Instead of the film focusing on the relationship between Dennis and Mr.Wilson and using it's time and last act to develop their relationship, we get a forced in villain played by Christopher Lloyd that takes Dennis hostage! I'll admit, I do think Christopher Lloyd is really terrifying as this ugly homeless thief, but not only is his character forced in the movie, but he's really just all for scares and no personality. In "Home Alone" or "Ferris Buller's Day Off" we had antagonists that were fun and memorable, and despite being goof ball villains, there was still a sense of risk when our characters had to face them. With Lloyd on the other hand, there is a strong feeling of danger when Dennis has to face him, but his personality is so boring and his character is so uninteresting that aside from his scary as hell presence, he's pretty bland; and this is Christopher Lloyd, how could you make him boring?! This is the same guy who gave a menacing over the top performance that still manages to scare the wits out of us as Judge Doom in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". Lloyd maybe scary in this film, but sadly that isn't enough to save for how boring of a villain he is. And given how over the top and cartoony all the characters are in this film, where Lloyd is simply just played out for scares as he carries around a switchblade knife to threaten little kids, his character in this film also feels pretty out of place, despite some over the top reactions he has when he meets Dennis.
Since the film's emotional core is lacking and doesn't at all develops the relationship between Mr.Wilson and Dennis because the film wanted to make way for slapstick and Christopher Lloyd as the bad guy; another huge disappointment that the film fails to deliver is good slapstick. Now granted, I did get a few occasional laughs from the slapstick in the film like the first scene with Dennis and Mr.Wilson; some of the cruel things that Dennis does to the villain; and even some of the comical reactions of pain from Matthau and Lloyd are at times just as funny as seeing Harry and Marv go through in the "Home Alone" films. That being said though, the slapstick isn't as good as compared to the slapstick in previous John Hughes films, especially "Home Alone". The timing for most of these gags are off; the majority of reactions that the characters have after suffer pain from Dennis' idiocy doesn't have the same perfect balance of pain and over the top reactions that Harry and Marv have; some of the jokes are over used to the point where they becomes dull and desperate (like the hits to the crotch gags, or the thief constantly landing on a board in the water for example); the majority of gags and situations aren't as creative or interesting as the gags in the previous films by Hughes were; and we sometimes get awkward and out of nowhere moments like Dennis' friend being forced to kiss an old dolls ass, and the thief getting an unnecessary fart joke (yeah, I know he was forced fed beans where the joke seems warranted, but the pay-off was really lousy). Also remember in the "Home Alone" films how Harry and Marv get bruises from the traps that Kevin sets-up for them where we never see them bleed as the bruises look brutal but cartoony at the same time, instead of flat-out gruesome. Well after all the abuse that we see the thief go through, we see scratches leaking out blood and gruesome red bruises that make this ugly filthy criminal, look worse than he already looks. I'll even admit that the few scenes that I did laugh at were for the majority pretty awkward and lacking in terms of comedy that Hughes has written in the past.
The film's look and feel isn't that great either. I mean there are a few shots and scenes that I really liked, like the shot inside Mr.Wilson's mouth with Dennis about to fire an aspirin inside it with his slingshot; the build-up to Dennis' first on-screen appearance; and the scene when Mrs.Wilson recites a poem from her childhood as we look at the beautiful night sky with the music by Jerry Goldsmith adding to the beauty of the scene, where the scene ends with the villain's silhouette standing by the moon as the music starts to become dark and grim. But with those scenes aside, the film's look and feel is pretty standard to what other 90s kids flicks were doing at the time, which makes it seem bland and forgettable. Even Jerry Goldsmith's music sounds just as typical as every other kids film made around that time. The supporting cast of characters is also pretty forgettable. Dennis' parents played by Robert Stanton and Lea Thompson are incredibly dull; the kids who play Dennis' friends, despite coming close to the characters that they are based off of, are boring and not at all well acted; and all the people that live in the town are nowhere near as funny or memorable as the cast of characters that John Hughes has wrote in his earlier works. There's even a forced in rival at the company where Dennis' Mom works at, who's so downplayed in the film as the film's secondary antagonist that in reality the only reason why her character is even present in the movie is so she could be part of the final gag during the closing credits, where the pay-off isn't that funny, nor could we feel like that she got what she deserved for being a jerk because of how little screen-time she has in the film. The only supporting character I found myself enjoying is Joan Plowright as Mrs.Wilson who fits the role naturally and is given the only effective scene that this film has to offer, where she turns a scene that could easily be just as corny as the rest of the film, into something pretty touching. Sadly though, aside from that scene, she isn't really given much to do.
As lacking that the film is in terms of story, characters, acting, slapstick, and visuals, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't entertained by it ok. I'm not at all saying it's a good film, it is indeed a bad film and a waste of time; but still as bad as it is, I honestly couldn't find anything in it that made me want to shut it off, or lose my interest as I was watching it. The story is poor and predictable, but not poor enough for it to not keep me interested in the plot. There are a good chunk of characters that are boring and bland, but they don't slow the film down or make me want to fall asleep. The humor isn't funny, but not unfunny to the point where I find it to be boring, annoying, or that offensively cringe worthy. The film does have a few funny moments (even if there aren't that many). Christopher Lloyd as the villain, much like how I felt about the Horned King in "The Black Cauldron" is a boring villain, but owns every single scary moment he has with his unsettling expressions and Make-Up design. And Gamble, Plowright, and Matthau, despite given very little material to work with that's good, they do fit their roles fine and every once in awhile succeed with making a joke or emotional moment work (and by making an emotional moment work, I'm only talking about Plowright). I don't really recommend this film, nor is it a film that I would go out of my way and purchase for my collection, but if I just so happened to catch it on TV when there's hardly anything good on, or if I was with a friend or sibling that wanted to watch it, I wouldn't mind turning it on. Yeah the film is still in my opinion a waste of time, but it's none the less an entertaining waste of time.
RATING 2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment