Operation Splitsville

After meditating over the matter for a long period of time I have decided to give this movie a ten. I have decided so, not because it was a good movie (O Lord no) but because I felt so bad for the kids. Those poor poor children....

This movie was damned near unwatchable, but I labored through it just so I could bash it w/a clear conscious. The movie basically shows you how "funny" divorce is. Woo hoo thats a knee slapper. It also shows fifth graders displaying the sexual aptitudes of late-teens. Calling their classmates "hotties" and explaining sex as a seed that comes out of your nuts. They said it, not me. Kids say the darndest things don't they?

There are two stories told in this film. One of divorce shown through the eyes of children, and a second of finding a place to belong when parents are splitting up and a sense of having a home disappears.

The anxieties and guilt felt by adults during a divorce aren't that much different than what kids feel. To some degree, kids feel more guilty during that process because they don't know as many details as their parents and thus assume everything is their fault, and this film addresses that. From my perspective as a child of divorce, I think the importance of being honest with kids about what's happening is relayed well in this film, even though the kids take that information and turn it into a 'war' with their peers.

The 'divorced kids' club showcases the universal needs for acceptance and a sense of belonging. I definitely could have used a club like that during my parents' divorce. Kids today have a lot more resources to find support groups than I did in 2000. Is it any easier to have your parents split up? No. But the support kids need is easier to find.

Overall, I think the story was well-executed and I relate to it very deeply, especially being the same age as the kids in the film.

Splitsville used to come on t.v. all the time and interested me because the movie was rated PG-13.The film is kind of childish and corny because the plot to the movie is about a bunch of kids trying to get their parents divorced. So the children start a club for all the kids whose parents are divorced, and soon after begin to fight and bicker with the kids whose parents are married.

The main thing that surprised me was that these kids are in the fifth grade and are having long explicit scenes of sexual dialogue.This shocked me because Splitsville is a kids movie, and these FIFTH GRADERS are having adult conversations at their lunch table. I quote from one of the fifth graders in the movie:"It's some sort of seed right,that comes out of your nuts," what the hell is dialogue like that doing in this sort of movie.So by the end of the film you will probably understand where they get the PG-13 rating from.

Another thing that gives this movie a bonus is that the kid who plays Ernie is actor Shaun Flemming who stars in the new hit movie Jeepers Creepers 2, I think the kid is talented, I mean for his age he is only 15 years old and was actually the only funny kid in Splitsville.Besides Shaun Flemming starring in Splitsville, actress Loretta Devine(Urban Legend) has a small role as the school principal, and I enjoyed her performance.

All in all a funny at times, kid's movie. My rating:4/10 Rated PG-13 for sex related material and sexual dialogue involving adolescents.

"Splitsville" approaches divorce with an honesty you don't find in many films about or for kids today. The dialogue between the kids is frank, and the situations a bit fantastical, as they should be in such a film, but it all plays in a very real way.

Anyone who's ever been a sixth grader in suburbia knows that this is the way kids speak about sex and divorce. Actually, this is the way kids speak about anything: they recite the bits and pieces they hear their parents say, and fill in the rest using their own imagination, often with hilarious results. When a group of kids somehow decide that sex has something to do with food, I'm reminded of my own elementary school idea of how it's done -- I'll spare you the details, but I was wrong.

The movie is fun, it has a good message, and it doesn't present it in a "mommy and daddy still love each other but..." kind of way. Instead, it presents the situation, allows the characters to form their natural plan of action, and discover the reality of their situation on their own.

I recommend it.