The Kid & I


3/4

Starring: Tom Arnold, Eric Gores, Linda Hamilton, Joe Mantegna, Henry Winkler, Richard Edson

Rated PG-13 for Some Language, Crude Humor and Drug References

By all standards, “The Kid & I” should be a bad movie.  The script is flat, at times bordering on banal, all of the cast members seem to be on their off days, and the direction is pedestrian.  And yet, the movie is quite enjoyable.

The key to this movie’s success is enthusiasm.  Everyone involved has their heart in the right place, and that shows in the film.  It’s earnest without being cloying, and sentimental without being overdone.  It’s what happens when a lot of people do some very nice things simply because they’re good people.

Bill Williams (Arnold) is about to kill himself.  A has been actor whose career hit a high note as a supporting actor in “True Lies” but is down on his luck and living in a crappy apartment with no friends.  He gives away the last of his clothes to an alcoholic hobo named Guy (Edson) and prepares to die.  But because Guy took most of the pills and vodka, Williams awakens to his former agent, Johnny Bernstein (a very funny Winkler).  Bernstein gives him news that he has been cast in an upcoming action movie.  Bill is excited, thinking that his life is about to turn around.  He’s in for a shock when he finds out that this isn’t a studio picture; it’s a film for a billionaire’s son, who has cerebral palsy.

The movie doesn’t get off to a great start.  For one thing, the first few scenes are pretty bleak.  Watching Bill prepare to kill himself is not exactly a happy experience.  But it’s not long before Bernstein shows up and things get rolling.  This is the roughest part of the movie.  The dialogue is terrible and so is the acting, but the worst are the initial awkward moments resulting from Bill’s anger at being duped.  It’s an uncomfortable feeling.

Still, the movie does get going, and it’s a lot of fun.  We like the characters, and there are some really funny moments here and there.  We get to see what it’s like to make a movie, particularly one on such a shoestring budget.

However, the movie would completely fall apart if Eric Gores didn’t pull off the impossible and make a character that really tugs at the heartstrings.  He’s lovable and enthusiastic without every getting on our nerves.  Much of the film’s pleasure is watching him fulfill his dream, and that’s only the case because Gores (who has cerebral palsy in real life) is so likable.

There are problems with the film.  Like the aforementioned awkward moments when Bill realizes he’s been duped, the scenes from the “movie” are cringe-worthy in ways that I’m sure the filmmakers did not intend.  Also, why is Tom Arnold given the name of Bill Williams?  Everyone knows that Arnold played the role in “True Lies,” and since many of the other actors use their real names, why not him?

Nevertheless, "The Kid & I" has a charm that cannot be denied.

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