Emmett

A true delight of a film. Silly, sweet, and moving, with an absolutely exuberant lead performance from Miles Brown. The cast is terrific across-the-board, with especially wonderful turns from Tracie Thoms, Skylan Brooks, Rita Wilson, Nora Dunn, and Ravi Patel (hilarious every moment he was onscreen).

Emmett Charles (Miles Brown) is a confident, imaginative 12 year old prodigy attending high school. There is a thieve in the school and police detective Gordon is called in. Suspicion falls upon Emmett's brother Luke.

Emmett is an annoying brat. He can claim some of it as comedic flourishes but there is too much of it. Everybody keeps complaining that he's too perfect when Mac is closer to the truth. He's a know-it-all but has non of the experience. Quite frankly, I feel sympathetic to Mac and I shouldn't. The movie forces me. Then there is the smorgasbord of differing styles and tones. It's a mangled mess. It wants to be a kiddie movie. It wants to deal with the serious race card. It wants to be a wacky screwball comedy. It's all over the place. The production looks weak. That part is surprising since there are some good actors involved. The mystery is not a tough mystery. I thought the case got solved with the pawn shop surveillance footage. When that happens, the tension of Luke all goes away. This is a mess.

For a certain middle grade demographic, this is the rare movie that really speaks to their age category and relates to some of the issues they're going through right now. The 11 year old girls I saw it with were bouncing off the walls excited after we saw it.

For adults, there's a lot of fun to be had with Nora Dunn's character, and Rita Wilson is the most fun I've ever seen her. She even does a funny rap parody of one of my favorite songs from my own youth-- and she really puts her back into it!

It's a fun film for the whole family.

Boy Genius wants to be one of those offbeat feel-good comedies, but it never quite clicks. The humor misses more than it hits, the pace drags, and the plot never really pulls you in.

There are a couple nice moments here and there, but they're not enough to keep it from feeling kind of forgettable. Even with its heart in the right place, it never finds the rhythm it needs.

A twelve year-old child prodigy Emmett (Miles Brown) teams up with a quirky retiree to solve a crime and save his family from splitting up. A 12-year-old child prodigy teams up with a retired eccentric to solve a crime and save his family from falling apart. Very cute, valid and necessary... Direction Bridget Stokes...

Those teenage Disney films, almost childish, and silly, but cute at the same time, exaggerated, the brothers' relationship is very cute, won my heart... see deep-rooted structural racism... Many layers that can be analyzed within varied and dramatic contexts... Very cute, valid and necessary...