Rends la monnaie, papa !

The movie starts in pretty interesting fashion when Macauley Culkin is deposited on the doorstep of his father, Ted Danson, just as he and his mates are preparing for a heist. However, the movie soon degenerates into "Home Alone" style antics as the young son brilliantly outsmarts his father time and time again. This all seems very familiar. Eventually the movie ends after nearly 2 1/2 hours of capers and disbelief. I wish they had of keeped the son out of it- police trying to 'get even' with the crooks sounds like a much better movie.

I loved this movie,I thought ted danson was excellent playing that self centered father,and culkin once again does a great job with playing a smarty.I also loved the fact that it was filmed on location in san francisco at places such as embarcadero bart station,chinatown,the aquarium,and golden gate park.

This movie was so boring. This movie is meant for people who probably have a IQ below zero. This movie is garbage. Little kids might liked this movie, if they're fans of the Home Alone movies. But Adults BEWARE!!!

*1/2

Getting Even with Dad

Awful story about a smart-a$$ed kid (Macaulay Culkin) who goes to live with his crook of a father (Ted Danson) and ends up stealing his father's (and accomplices') stash of money they've stolen from a bank. He promises to give it back if his dad hangs out with him and treats him like most sons.

There's a lot of feuding between father and son in this dismal and unfortunate tale that tries to prove kids are smarter than their parents and can control them with a bit of blackmail. If this movie had been released thirty years ago...I can only imagine what parents would have done to the copies.

Besides, apart from the stupid message of the film, it's just a bad movie. Macaulay Culkin has finally outgrown his childhood and for once the critics started to notice he couldn't act (like he ever could! He got lucky with "Home Alone"--it was good because of Pesci and the rest of the cast, not him). Danson is equally annoying in the role of his father, who seems to have been born without a personality. Yes, Danson is very watered down in this movie. To be honest, I don't blame him--this is the type of stuff that belongs on made-for-TV movies. You know your career has hit rock-bottom when you're in something like this.

And just think, this was made somewhere around ten years ago.

What a disaster.

* / *****

Getting Even With Dad is more of a nostalgia moment for me than anything else. What is interesting to see is how the film still has an emotional impact on me today. This isn't anything to fancy with regards to the scriptwriting or even the cinematography. This relies purely on the character development and acting of our main cast. Macaulay Culkin was such a big star at the time yet this one flopped a little on its release. Suddenly the audience had got bored of Culkin and he wasn't so cute anymore. However I believe Culkin plays a reasonably good part in this movie alongside Ted Danson.

The basic theme of the movie is blackmail, Culkin finds no other way to reason with his father on pulling off a coin heist, in which he sees it ending only one way. Alongside Danson and Culkin we have some great supporting characters, Rays (Ted Danson) two cronies Bobby and Carl played by Saul Rubinek and Gailard Sartain. Saul Rubinek adds some humour to what is mostly perceived as an emotional drama from my perspective. Where Getting Even with Dad struggles is sometimes in the pacing and also not fully sure of what it wants to be. It crosses genre without really settling on something concrete, this isn't a bad thing it just means it comes across of being not fully aware of the message it's trying to convey.

If you just watch this is a lighthearted mood and accept it for what it is you'll enjoy it yet if you are looking for something with a little more depth and meaning then you'll probably find you are on the side of the disappointed.