"Fun Size", which marks the directorial debut of Josh Schwartz (co-creator of "Chuck", "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl"), is a spunky and good-natured teenage comedy. How good-natured is it? To be frank, I have no clue, but there are some scenes that are good-natured somehow. Is it spunky enough for the whole family? It certainly is, but this is for the 11 & up stage. It's kind of shocking, of course, to see certain moments that are happening in a PG-13 film released by Nickelodeon Movies (the amount of swearing like three uses of the S-word and of the word that rhymes with "witch", farting jokes and sexual innuendo will help you determine that if it's safe for your kids or not). But above all else, it won me over and it certainly reminded me of the 80's classic "Adventures in Babysitting". Unlike Jonah Hill's "The Sitter", "Fun Size" gets that "Adventures in Babysitting" feel just right, although it would've worked better as a film released by MTV instead of Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon starlet Victoria Justice from "Victorious" stars as Wren DeSantis, a teen who is stuck being in between the popular crowd and the nerdy crowd. She wants to go to NYU, has an annoying, but likable, 8-year-old brother, Albert (Jackson Nicoll) and a single mom (an appropriately toned-down Chelsea Handler) who "shops at Forever 21" and is dating a boringly dumb model named Keevin (Josh Pence). But she likes having friends around with April ("Suburgatory"'s Jane Levy), who is desperate to be in the popular crowd and Roosevelt (Thomas Mann from "Project X"), the nerdy but smart kid who is co-captain of the debate team. When she gets invited to a party run by Aaron Riley (Thomas McDonell), the popular kid in school on Halloween, her plans gets thrown out the window when her mom (dressed up in her Britney Spears getup) ditches the kids to party with Keevin and leaving Wren (dressed up as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz") to go trick-or-treating with Albert. It's a teen's worst nightmare and a parent's wild dream. When Albert (dressed up as an one-armed Spider-Man) gets lost and lands in the convenience store, where he makes friends with charming, but goofy store clerk Fuzzy (Thomas Middleditch), Wren, Roosevelt and April along with Roosevelt's friend Peng (Osric Chau) go on an adventure to rescue Albert and to be back before Wren's mom do. Wren's mom, on the other hand, do go to Keevin's friend's party only to get a serious reality check waiting for her, since she lost her husband a year ago. "Fun Size" is definitely a good movie, but has some flaws in there. The flaws I know are that Schwartz and screenwriter Max Werner tries too hard to make some of the gags work, however I did laugh at a lot of things (Albert using the toilet while his sister is in the shower, Albert dancing with his iconic heroine, Galaxy Scout (Riki Lindhomme), Peng taking on a high school bully with an antique period pistol and the iconic moment in which a giant chicken mascot from a restaurant humps a car that belongs to Roosevelt's mothers). And why is an unbilled Johnny Knoxville playing a clueless MMA fighter who kidnaps the fun-loving Albert and locks him in a house? It's too strange for me to tell, but his comeuppances are well-created. And I thought that Wren was a little undeveloped as a character. But no matter, I thought that Victoria Justice and Thomas Mann were charming and Chelsea Handler was incredible, but the scene-stealers are Jackson Nicoll, Thomas Middleditch and Ana Gasteyer & Kerri Kenney as Roosevelt's lesbian "Moms". Also, if you are an adult who appreciates this film, check to see if you can get a reference to the Beastie Boys and Pink Floyd in this film. It's flawed, yes. Is it beyond reaching for masochism pain? Absolutely not. Is it worth watching? Yes, but make sure to warn your kids if you're taking them to go see this movie. Plus, it has a lot of heart in there too.
Review of Fun Size
