Bogus, Meu Amigo Secreto

Quite a good movie, describing the case of a traumatized child who makes up a "secret friend" to help him survive in an unfriendly world. Having his foster godmother Harriet Franklin start to see and hear Bogus, the invisible friend, is harder to accept...despite the fact that she too was once a small child with (presumably) a similar burden.

Placed next to all the cliff-hanger world-threatening scenarios of many blockbuster movies, the story of a small child's trying to come to grips with his mother's death may seem somewhat trivial. But unlike those other flicks, it has the redeeming feature of being true to life. Despite the make-believe title character, the story itself is very down-to-earth (with only the exception noted above).

What a sweet movie! It makes you wish that you were a kid again. I would gladly be seven years old once more if it meant welcoming Bogus in the form of Gerard Depardieu into my life! He was fantastic. The relationship he has with the little boy is touching without being overly sentimental, and he gives the boy exactly what he is looking for - warmth and friendship and is everything a friend (imaginary or otherwise) should be. It brought tears to my eyes one minute and made me giggle the next!

In my opinion, this film is equally entertaining for adults as well as young children, since it reminds us adults that imagination is such an important part of our lives! This film is perhaps reminiscent of "Drop Dead Fred" which sees a grown woman being comforted by her childhood imaginary friend in a time of crisis. But this movie is far, far better done if you ask me.

So for all you hardened adults out there, lighten up! This movie will help you to embrace the child within!

"Bogus" is a touching and heart warming example of Albert Einsteins famous quote: "Reality is our worst enemy and imagination is our best friend."

A seven year old boy Albert (Haley Joel Osment), has a very happy life,living in Las Vegas with his circus entertainer mother,Lorraine (Nancy Travis).

This almost perfect life is tragically torn away from Albert when Lorraine is killed in car crash. After squabbling over who Albert should stay with,Lorraine's colleagues find that in her will,Lorraine had stated that she wished for Albert to be put in the care of her foster sister Harriet Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg).

When Harriet learns of this, she is not to happy. She has always lived alone and doesn't like the idea of being suddenly responsible for this little boy. But Harriet realizes that it's what Lorraine wanted and through thick and thin, Lorraine was always there for her.

So Albert goes to live with Harriet in the less glamorous city of Newark, New Jersey.

But he has not come alone!!

With him,Albert has bought a friend. A gentle giant called Bogus (Gerard Depardieu) who has been his only friend since the death of his mother.

Bogus is out to bring Harriet and Albert together as a family and to remind Harriet that imagination brings happiness.

Whoopi, Gerard and Haley make a fantastic team and are perfectly cast in this beautiful movie! 10 out of 10!!

Gerald Depardieu at his most average is better than many other actors at their very best. Well this isn't necessarily true. However as an actor, Depardieu has attempted everything, not all of them good but what he always manages to convey on the screen is a presence that is strong and full of conviction, no matter what the circumstances, as a viewer this is hard to fault. In the movie Bogus we see one of these performances. What we should also mention is fine support from Whoopi Goldberg and a sublime Haley Joel Osment.

Bogus is an interesting, well acted and well crafted, fantasy piece, it is a story about the mind of a child and how this can cross over into a real/adult world.

This is a movie that could have easily missed it's intended mark with lesser actors, and a less experienced director. But through imagination, depth of characters and a special bond between the three actors, this movie succeeds.

There have been critics that dismiss Bogus as overly-sentimental cods wallop, but after seeing it for myself I actually disagree. While sometimes univolving in terms of story, this fantasy film about a young lonely orphaned boy befriending a seemingly-imaginary man never fails to be pleasant and charming. It is beautifully filmed, with lush cinematography and lovely scenery. And I liked the music as well. The direction is pretty solid, and there are some very poignant moments. The performances are not at all bad, Haley Joel Osment undoubtedly gives the strongest one of the lot, while looking extremely cute he does convince in the delivery of his lines and in his face. Gerard Depardieu gives a very pleasant and whimsical characterisation as the imaginary friend, however if his character was perhaps more complex he would've been more memorable. Whoopi Goldberg gives her usual standard of performance, a woman with attitude, yet with a soft side to her, and that is exactly what her character Harriet is like. However, the film while nicely performed and meaning well, is weighed down by an uninvolving story and a sometimes weak script. And there are some problems with the pace, I found the middle half rather slow for my liking. All in all, undemanding but pleasant and charming, and in some ways misunderstood too. 7/10 Bethany Cox