FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: Penelope Spheeris. Produced by: Tom Arnold, Penelope Spheeris & Brad Wyman. Written by: Tom Arnold. Director of Photography: Robert Seaman. Edited by: Jan Northrop & John Wesley Whitten. Released by: Wheels Up Films. Country of Origin: USA. 93 min. Rated: PG-13. With: Tom Arnold, Eric Gores, Richard Edson, Joe Mantegna, Linda Hamilton, Henry Winkler & Brenda Strong.
After 10 years of riding the high of being known as the screenwriter for
True Lies, Bill Williams (Tom Arnold) sucks down booze and pills in
the bathtub of his rundown Los Angeles apartment. Hours after his failed
suicide, his agent (Henry Winkler) informs him that a billionaire has
offered Williams a million dollars to write a vehicle in honor of his son's
18th birthday. The catch? His son Aaron (Eric Gores) is to be the film's
star. The other catch? He has cerebral palsy. Inspirational wackiness
ensues.
Or so screenwriter Tom Arnold hoped. The Kid & I is not funny or
inspiring. Unfocused, nonsensical, and cloying, Arnold's screenplay never
allows an otherwise well-done production to succeed. The eclectic cast (including
Gores, who shares his character's illness) could have been exceptional. But
obvious jokes and a trite story line ruin it for everyone.
The film is at its most promising when Williams deals with his teetering existence.
Though these Sideways moments are brief and not plentiful, they do
showcase Arnold's ability to write for himself and deliver his own lines -
though his character ultimately remains petty, unrepentant, and
uninteresting.
Gores' character is the heart of the film, but Aaron does nothing to show he
is deserving of attention beyond having cerebral palsy. Besides being
attractive and wealthy, he stars in a movie that his father bought him and
it makes him happy. That's the plot. And when Aaron announces at his
birthday party that he wanted to make a movie with Williams to show the
world he could do anything, it fails to resonate. Why root for a character
that did nothing but make good use of pity? Zachary Jones |