Fun Size

Pretty small audience when my husband and I saw this.

If you giggle hysterically over a teen girl deciding that maybe her Justice Ruth Ginsberg costume needs to be updated to a "sexy Justice Ginsberg", this movie is for you. We loved the nerdy humor.

If that joke, or the running one with an 8 year old deciding to be a one-armed Spidey (complete with bloody plastic severed arm) doesn't fill you with mirth, skip this film. We loved it.

Of course, we also loved Hudson Hawke, Howard the Duck, and The Stupids.

Happy Halloween!

A teenage girl and her best friend want to attend the Halloween party with the cool kids, but are stuck trick-or-treating with her little brother. He becomes lost, and they spend the evening searching for him. What ensues is supposed to be a funny adventure of oddball characters getting themselves into amusing situations, but there just is not much to laugh at here. In the end the girl is destined to come to some sort of realization about what she really deems important, which is predictable and does not add much to the movie. Victoria Justice, who plays the girl, is pretty and likable enough, but that is not enough to make this movie fun to watch.

This stars the latest Disney princess. It's Halloween and Wren (Victoria Justice) just wants to party with her best friend (Jane Levy). Instead her mother (Chelsea Handler) insists that she takes her little brother out for trick or treat. While out, she loses her brother and a mad cap search for him begins.

Josh Schwartz who wrote and produced TV shows Gossip Girl, Chuck, and The O.C. directs this teen movie. The movie does have potential. The leads are likable. A night of crazy adventure is usually fun and compelling. Keeping the kid silent was a mistake, and a better rewrite was needed. The search is completely illogical. The kid lacks charisma and not talking doesn't help any. Although Victoria Justice has the charisma to lead this movie which is the most important aspect.

There have been lots of these coming-of-age movies. Each one differs a little bit by the era in which it is produced. This one rated PG-13 has the feel of an after school special. Everyone has an image of their ideal life; however, it takes at night of Halloween hijinks for them to realize what they really want.

The film has many cute scenes. There is also potty humor. Innuendos and big chickens that explains where car hybrids come from. They threw in an asthmatic cat is a good addition to the mix.

I've seen better versions of this genre. However, this is well done. Yet there is nothing exceptional. So, get out your popcorn. Have a little fun. Then forget it. It is not worth rewatching.

Do not forget to kibitz now and then.

Fun Size- *1/2 (out of four): There are more laughs and more fun in an episode of "Victorious" than in this farce of a film, which would have fared better had it been released straight to DVD. It is crudely written, the teenage qualms seem entirely artificial and clichéd. There are some funny and even sweet moments in it, but the bad outweighs the good here. It tries to pay homage to older (and better) teen flicks of the '80s, but it falls far short, emerging as little more than a comedy full of gags and stereotypical characters. It might be enjoyable for a small minority of people, but I'm sure most will be quite bored by it. Definitely one to skip.