60 minuti per Danny Masters

A whimsical bittersweet tale with quirky characters, charming moments and which is quite enchanting as a whole. Griffin O'Neal (Ryan's son) as the young lead character showed great promise in this film. Raul Julia is at his most vibrant as the spoiled son of a mayor (played by Desi Arnaz!) who befriends O'Neal's character. This film is HIGHLY under-rated and desperately needs to be remastered and reissued on video.

This is a truly wonderful movie experience. The magical score adds to the atmosphere perfectly. It is beautifully photographed by Stephen H Burum and perfectly directed by Caleb Deschanel. The central performance by Griffin O'Neil is very watchable as is a great support cast which includes Elizabeth Daly and the late great Raul Julia. This is THE movie that made me want to make movies. The haunting final shot combined with the beautiful music has stayed with me for years.

I just watched this on Talking Pictures channel in the UK - November 2021.

I'm in a quandary about it now as I don't feel like the film was properly finished. I almost wonder if section(s) of it were missing, either cut by the channel I just watched it on, or by the people that made the film, or maybe they cut it short in production. There were some narrative gaps which I had to fill in by guessing what had happened in between. The acting was all top notch, the score was great and individual scenes were excellent and effecting, but what and why the things that happen do happen is hard to follow, it felt like the middle third of the film was just plain missing. I did however recognise a redemption of the kid's father, and to some extent the mayor's son, who was clearly negatively mentally affected by his corrupt father. This is worth seeing and I would have given it more than a 6/10 if it had been better edited or felt properly finished.

This film needs to be re-mastered and re-released. I absolutely loved the performances by Griffin O'Neal, Raul Julia, and the late Joan Hackett - who died of Ovarian Cancer shortly after the film was originally released. A great family film for little kids, and us big kids too!

This is one of those odd movies which is much greater than the sum of its parts. Leonard Maltin is quite right that it is muddled, and the plot has tons of holes and inconsistencies. The casting is odd and quirky. But when the smoke clears, it stays with you. Maybe it's just the concept of a child prodigy magician. BTW, the contemporary reviews in 1982 were pretty much in accord with this opinion.