The Adventures of Ragtime

A film about the kidnapping of a tiny show pony that goes wrong of course. I bought this for the Shelley Long content alone. It was not a particularly funny film and I did find the family that owned the pony grated on me but it was all good clean cut fun. Shelley Long though a different kettle of fish. Hilarious tottering around on those high heeled shoes looking like she was going to fall over any minute. And that short mini skirt and black stocking and her change of hair every 5 minutes she was hilarious. When she sings my sweet potato pie with her side kick great. The best bit though is when she speaks with the phony Southern Accent you can't help enjoying it.

The Adventures of Ragtime is a 1998 film written and directed by William Byron Hillman. Mr. Hillman does not have too many film credits to his name but for those who do know him, they most likely know him for this film and/or his 2003 film Quigley. The film notably stars Justin Cooper (known for films like Liar Liar and Dennis the Menace Strikes Again) and Shelly Long (Cheers). And that is only naming a few! As you may already know, nothing much more is known about this film.

Literally the plot of this film is that two people, Sam and Lester, go and steal a miniature horse and a dog. That is it. Nothing else.

I think the storyline on this film's IMDB page sums it up just right. This film is basically a Home Alone film, but with a horse. And guess what? IT IS NOT FUNNY!!! Nothing about this film is even funny or even clever at that. There are two instances where they try to use poop to make the viewer laugh. And guess what? I SURE AS HELL DID NOT LAUGH!!! There is also a few instances where they repeat a joke more than once. For example, falling down a laundry chute. First of all, it was not funny the first time. Second time: not funny. THIRD TIME: STILL NOT FUNNY!!!. Phew....... Ok..... So as you can tell, I did not find this film funny at all. Fun fact: Apparently some of the actors here were not aware that the animals were going to talk at all. Well, they do talk and I deem it entirely pointless to have them talk. Not only does what they say is entirely unimportant, but it is just annoying. But oh, the kids might like it and they be like ooh pretty animals. SHUT UP. I am not a little kid. Now this film made me question a lot about everything that went on. First, these two people just decide to steal a miniature horse and hope to get a ransom from it. Second, the FBI gets called in on this little incident. Third, for the longest time the FBI are not even aware that they are looking for a horse and a dog. Finally, Shelly Long constantly changing wigs which really bothers me. The only thing that truly saves this film from getting a one star rating is the acting which is surprisingly not bad except I have to put up with that annoying accent that Shelly Long has in this film. As I have already mentioned, the story is not very exciting. But, not only does the film have that story, but also try to have a plot with the father being a busy lawyer. Again, not very interesting.

The Adventures of Ragtime is abysmal. Nothing about it is extremely funny to me. Sure, a little kid might get something out of this but I know I did not.

A real dog of a "dog and pony" show. Jay Thomas and Shelley Long -- funny as they can be -- come off as two sleazy cats trying to fight their way out of a paper bag of a movie. If it appears that most of the primary actors are upset over the kidnapping of their favorite pets, it is more likely they are grimacing in pain and embarrassment from signing on to this film. After release it was re-titled as "Barclay's Big Adventure". Barclay just happens to be the 8-year-old boy in the family of five who is most attached to the family's Shetland pony(Ragtime) and collie(Taylor). When the pets are stolen - get this - an army of thirty FBI agents are called in and confusion reigns. Barclay gets about ten minutes screen time. Three-year-olds will love this film.

Sam (Shelley Long) and Lester (Jay Thomas) are dimwitted petty criminals. All of their get rich schemes fall flat. BUT, one day, at a rodeo they believe they have hit pay dirt. One of the performers is a darling miniature horse named Ragtime. This tiny equine belongs to the Blue Family. Mr. Blue (Perry King) is a hotshot lawyer with very little time for his family. This upsets his wife and three cute kids. The youngest, Barkley (Justin Cooper) is especially close to Ragtime and Rag's animal pal Taylor the dog. At the rodeo, unknown to Barkley, Mr. Blue promises to sell the little horse for a steep price. Here is where paths cross with Lester and Sam. Les gets the brilliant idea, after eavesdropping, to kidnap the horse and garner some ransom money. After bungling an initial attempt, the dumb duo succeeds and sets up horsekeeping in an empty mansion nearby. (The owners must be out of towners). However, this is one smart pony. Soon, Sam and Lester are falling down garbage chutes, sliding on soap suds, and getting shut up in closets. Ragtime, who can talk to the audience, is having a ball. What is ahead? Will the kidnappers get their dough? Will the cops find the missing horse first? Will Dad still sell the horse anyway? This is a cute family movie, still another variation of Home Alone. This one, however, has hoof power in a darling, darling mini horse. Just watching the trained creature in action, opening doors, etc, will delight children of all ages. Long and Thomas play dumb pretty well and Cooper, from Liar Liar, is a great child performer. King, Kay Lenz, and a truly competent cast compliment the stars nicely. The sets, costumes, script and direction also have their strong points. No, this will never be an award winning movie. However, this Ragtime to Riches story will please most audiences very well for an evening's romp.