With a technique borrowed from Casino of the story being told from two different protagonist points of view, Rob Reiner gives us a wonderful family film about first love. Flipped is a lot less bloody and a great deal sweeter than Martin Scorsese's gangster classic.
The prosperous Loski family moves into the neighborhood where the ne'er do well Bakers live. On that day in the late fifties the kids that grow up to be Callan McAuliffe and Madeline Carroll set eyes on each other. Carroll thinks McAuliffe is the one, but such decisions at the age of 7 are sometimes reconsidered. And McAuliffe can't see her for beans, she's just an annoying girl which is not atypical for the second grade.
Moving into junior high school is a different matter. With the onset of puberty both these kids are experiencing conflicting emotions. McAuliffe acts like a jerk sometimes, Carroll expects a bit much.
The families are different. Anthony Edwards who is McAuliffe's dad is a bit of a fathead and has a thing about his neighbor's lifestyle. Their yard contains a chicken coop and is not in good shape and it's bringing down the values of the other property on the block. As for Aidan Quinn who is Carroll's dad and his family lives as it does in order to support his brother who lives in a sanitarium, an expensive private one for the mentally retarded. Quinn is a wonderful dad, but the Bakers live a whole lot like the Micawbers waiting for something to turn up.
The women are wiser than the men, Rebecca DeMornay and Penelope Ann Miller the wives of Edwards and Quinn respectively bond. McAuliffe also has the wisdom of his maternal grandfather John Mahoney to lean on. He's a surrogate grandfather to Carroll as well.
Rob Reiner came up with a real winner. The kids act like real kids as opposed to Hollywood kids. The grownups are neither all wise Deities or complete idiots. The women young and old do come out better than the men. I think everyone is going to like this one.
Flipped is highly rated for family viewing.
The prosperous Loski family moves into the neighborhood where the ne'er do well Bakers live. On that day in the late fifties the kids that grow up to be Callan McAuliffe and Madeline Carroll set eyes on each other. Carroll thinks McAuliffe is the one, but such decisions at the age of 7 are sometimes reconsidered. And McAuliffe can't see her for beans, she's just an annoying girl which is not atypical for the second grade.
Moving into junior high school is a different matter. With the onset of puberty both these kids are experiencing conflicting emotions. McAuliffe acts like a jerk sometimes, Carroll expects a bit much.
The families are different. Anthony Edwards who is McAuliffe's dad is a bit of a fathead and has a thing about his neighbor's lifestyle. Their yard contains a chicken coop and is not in good shape and it's bringing down the values of the other property on the block. As for Aidan Quinn who is Carroll's dad and his family lives as it does in order to support his brother who lives in a sanitarium, an expensive private one for the mentally retarded. Quinn is a wonderful dad, but the Bakers live a whole lot like the Micawbers waiting for something to turn up.
The women are wiser than the men, Rebecca DeMornay and Penelope Ann Miller the wives of Edwards and Quinn respectively bond. McAuliffe also has the wisdom of his maternal grandfather John Mahoney to lean on. He's a surrogate grandfather to Carroll as well.
Rob Reiner came up with a real winner. The kids act like real kids as opposed to Hollywood kids. The grownups are neither all wise Deities or complete idiots. The women young and old do come out better than the men. I think everyone is going to like this one.
Flipped is highly rated for family viewing.