I like a good slapstick movie as much as the next guy.
If the next guy is John Hughes, though, he has me beat.
You have a property like "Dennis the Menace" and you want to make a movie out of it? Fine. Just don't get John Hughes to do the scriptwork. For some reason, the spirits of "Home Alone"s past haunt him and possess his typewriter to recycle the same jokes over and over.
He does manage to eke some sweet observances about the friendships between kids and even between kids and gruff old neighbors like Mr. Wilson (Matthau, who seems to be having a high old time). Even suburban life is observed with a good deal of truth. And who doesn't know at least one family in the neighborhood who has a child that all the babysitters refuse to sit with?
One thing that offsets the pranks here that the "Home Alone" pranks didn't have is the fact that Dennis (Gamble) isn't a vindictive little kid. he's just an innocent who happens to push the wrong button at the wrong time. Then, trying to cover up, he ends up making a worse mess than before. And Mr. Wilson is usually on the receiving end, whether he likes it or not.
If the movie had followed thsi tangent all the way through, it may have been a bigger success. But when Switchblade Sam (Lloyd) is introduced, his scrungy form of evil kind of throws a monkey wrench in the works. Even when Dennis unknowlingly waylays him into a blubbering, emotionally scarred mess, it feels more like a Hughes movie than part of Dennis' wholesome universe.
As it is, this movie feels like less a "Menace" than does Hughes, who refuses to let old formulas lie.
Five stars. All for the Dennis/Mr. Wilson chemistry. And for suburbia in all its splendor.
Next time, John Hughes, check Marv and Harry at the door.
If the next guy is John Hughes, though, he has me beat.
You have a property like "Dennis the Menace" and you want to make a movie out of it? Fine. Just don't get John Hughes to do the scriptwork. For some reason, the spirits of "Home Alone"s past haunt him and possess his typewriter to recycle the same jokes over and over.
He does manage to eke some sweet observances about the friendships between kids and even between kids and gruff old neighbors like Mr. Wilson (Matthau, who seems to be having a high old time). Even suburban life is observed with a good deal of truth. And who doesn't know at least one family in the neighborhood who has a child that all the babysitters refuse to sit with?
One thing that offsets the pranks here that the "Home Alone" pranks didn't have is the fact that Dennis (Gamble) isn't a vindictive little kid. he's just an innocent who happens to push the wrong button at the wrong time. Then, trying to cover up, he ends up making a worse mess than before. And Mr. Wilson is usually on the receiving end, whether he likes it or not.
If the movie had followed thsi tangent all the way through, it may have been a bigger success. But when Switchblade Sam (Lloyd) is introduced, his scrungy form of evil kind of throws a monkey wrench in the works. Even when Dennis unknowlingly waylays him into a blubbering, emotionally scarred mess, it feels more like a Hughes movie than part of Dennis' wholesome universe.
As it is, this movie feels like less a "Menace" than does Hughes, who refuses to let old formulas lie.
Five stars. All for the Dennis/Mr. Wilson chemistry. And for suburbia in all its splendor.
Next time, John Hughes, check Marv and Harry at the door.