DISNEY'S THE KID/ ***1/2

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Disney's The Kid

***1/2

Rated on a 4-star scale
Screening venue: Warner Village (Birkenhead Conway Park)
Released in the UK by Buena Vista International on November 10, 2000; certificate PG; 104 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1

Directed by Jon Turtletaub; produced by Hunt Lowry, Christina Steinberg, Jon Turtletaub.
Written by Audrey Wells.
Photographed by Peter Menzies; edited by Peter Honess, David Rennie.

CAST.....
Bruce Willis..... Russ Duritz
Spencer Breslin..... Rusty Duritz
Emily Mortimer..... Amy
Lily Tomlin..... Janet
Chi McBride..... Kenny
Jean Smart..... Deirdre Lafever
Dana Ivey..... Dr Alexander
Daniel Von Bargen..... Sam Duritz

Britain, wintertime. I sit at the keyboard cold, unwell and depressed, procrastinating over writing this piece. It's easy to rip into a bad movie, or to wow over the strengths of a great, but when I saw "Disney's The Kid", it filled me with strong, indefinable joy. That's hard enough to review when you're riding on the happy wave, a chore indeed when you're not. Apologies.

But… Don't cry for me, world web users! Just go and see this good movie! All through its bright frames… its great existence… it keeps its promise -- don't keep your distance!

Okay, enough of that.

"Disney's The Kid" stars Bruce Willis as a terse, cynical, impeccable-looking image consultant named Russ Duritz. He speaks frankly to his clients, telling them "Your makeup is too orange and your jewellery is too cheap," or "You're a corrupt fat cat who deserves everything you're getting; if you wanna get out of it, listen up." He brushes off his father when the man tries to make amends for past mistakes. He's so far away from letting his girlfriend into his heart that conversation plays like provocation. The only person close to him who refuses to become offended is his secretary Janet (Lily Tomlin). "Take your phone off," she commands, when Russ comes to collect the mail wearing a microphone headset. "You're with a human now."

The movie ingratiates itself with that kind of sharp humour, making us receptive to the somewhat corny supernatural plot. This involves Russ getting a visit from Rusty (Spencer Breslin), a scruffy, chunky, wide-eyed kid who happens to be Russ at age 8. How is this possible? Something to do with a time portal in some diner, I think; I'm not quite sure, but does it really matter?

Russ has forgotten most of his childhood to turn himself into something he's not -- a defence mechanism from bad memories, I guess -- but now this little boy is right in his face, following him around, talking in the honest, curious manner that children will, and becoming an image consultant of sorts for Russ himself, putting him in touch with his identity and emotions, allowing him to keep it real.

Those themes are never treated with a heavy hand or explicitly pointed out; the writer, Audrey Wells, and director, John Turtletaub, allow us to absorb them for ourselves, and the onscreen action simply involves Willis getting nagged and driven crazy by this child until eventually he starts to grow on him.

There are effective sweet touches all the way through, such as the way Russ and Rusty share mannerisms, and maybe I'm a sucker, but I just found it sweet to see the hard Russ we meet in the opening stretches get softened and humanised somewhat by a goofy little boy. Movies like this can be sickening and saccharine, but "Disney's The Kid" is astute and well acted -- the Disney animation branch could learn a lot from its sense of humour, judging by recent output such as the unbearably dreary "Dinosaur".

This is terrific family entertainment, except for kids who are too young to follow a story. I'd say it's for people of 6 or 7 and above. Its fantasy situation is interesting from both children's and adults' points of view, it tells its story with skill, and it left me feeling good. I wish I could be more detailed, but, y'know.

One thing I wonder about is how people will take the very ending. It plays fair emotionally, but raises more questions than it answers in terms of mechanics; to be honest, I'm not sure that it makes a whole lot of sense. But does anyone care? Most parents looking for a good family flick would call this quibble pedantic. I would find it hard to disagree.

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