The Bracelet of Bordeaux

I think this is the first B-movie that is family oriented, but that is what it is. My 7 and 5 year-old watched it all of the way through. It's run time is 99 minutes. I found nothing objectionable in this PG rated movie. It's got an OK story, but I found the accents of Grandmere and her grand daughter hard to understand. It is now showing up on DVD around the local movie stores and you should know that while it is entertaining, there's nothing spectacular here either. The video appears to be non-film, but I could be wrong about that; as if it was shot digitally. I didn't recognize any of the actors in the film. The plot has been done many times before; dog-napping ring and there are mafia references.

This film is not good. At all. The best thing about this film is the two cute girls in the lead roles. I found them endearing, in spite of the film's many weaknesses. The writing is really bad and the performances of the adult actors are all too over the top and completely ineffective. The film isn't very funny or entertaining and feels longer than it is. It isn't well made and feels like it was thrown together by amateurs with a really low budget. Despite the pretty young leading ladies best efforts, this film doesn't work. 4/10 is my rating and that is me being nice because it has a couple cute kids in it.

Hilarious is the operative term for THE BRACELET OF BORDEAUX.

It is a fast-paced, fanciful film that offers a nudge-wink mix of slapstick, irony, and withering social satire about "Chem City," Texas. Adults and children alike laughed long and hard at the showing I attended, with nary a mean-spirited gag in sight.

The quality I liked best about BRACELET was its overarching emphasis on the importance of choosing -- and keeping -- the right kinds of friends. Although clearly aimed at kids, the film has both a sense of humor and message adults would benefit by heeding.

Thank goodness the filmmakers chose to emphasize fantasy over realism. Is anyone besides me tired of films that fail to take advantage of the nearly boundless theatricality and visual creativity the medium allows? Without giving away the plot, I can say that a form of magic, with roots in an important period of contemporary world history, plays a pivotal role in the development of the story.

Equally refreshing was the use of believable, average-looking child actors, playing characters resembling real kids. Again, is anyone besides me tired of movies that present children as tiny, physically idealized, wise-cracking adults? Speaking of wisecracks, I liked the way the film's abundant humor sprang not from one-liners or clichés, but from the wild images on the screen or the irony of the situations orchestrated by the script.

Since I knew this was an independent film shot on a shoestring, I was surprised by the quality of the production. The photography was professional, as were the sets, costumes and props. Effects were high-quality, and acting was top-rate. I give extra points to the adult actors who portrayed the marionettes behind the juvenile-delinquent puppets. Sal's role added necessary weight to the plot, while the scenes featuring him and his hapless toady added levity to the proceedings with their straight-faced absurdity.

In reading background on the film, I learned that BRACELET is the first by Frank Eakin and that it was so low-budget it was practically no-budget. The information begs the question: Has digital technology made film a truly democratic art form? The success of THE BRACELET OF BORDEAUX is enough to make believers out of the most stalwart doubters in the power of digital video technology.

There is one good lesson to be learned from this film -- for prospective screenwriters: if this movie got made, then any movie can be made.

Miss Carson and Miss Edwards are enjoyable to watch but the story, the characterizations and the staging of scenes would earn no better than a D minus at any respectable film school.

Viewers aged in the high single digits will have little patience for this movie.

If you're looking for something worthwhile for your kid, give them something meaningful, such as "The Ballet Shoes" or even a "Roxy Hunter."

I watched this movie with my 8 1/2 year old daughter. We were entertained by the entire movie and both of us enjoyed it. OK, so the production quality was amateurish (not nearly as bad as, say, the "Blair Witch Project"), the story line was implausible, and the scene editing needed to be tightened up. This movie was good fun with a dose of "girl-power" and was family friendly. The two main characters (Helen and Marie) and the lead bad guy (Dirk) were compelling and definitely held the viewer's interest. The side characters such as the ice cream vendor, Texas twins, gardener lady, and bad cop, were cool and kooky and I looked forward to seeing their repeat appearances. The movie involved a bunch of girls from some group in the community and I thought that type of involvement was great. Who says you have to watch a slick $30 million dollar movie production to be entertained? This movie proves that you don't. One of my adult-oriented grade-B movie favorites is the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", and that one had less coherency to the story line and an equally amateurish production quality, yet is now a cult classic. You should not have high expectations when viewing the "Bracelet of Bordeaux", but you may find it captivating you. If you like this movie, you might like "How to Eat Fried Worms". Both movies revolve around kids resolving issues on their own.