Duas Vidas

"The Kid" is a movie that will touch the hearts of two groups of people - children and grown-up cynics. In the leading role is Bruce Willis, who in my opinion must be one of the most versatile actors around. He plays the part of the cynical jerk Russ very well :).For most of the movie you cannot help but to hate him as he constantly ridicules the weaknesses of the people around him, and love him as you somehow know that there's a tiny seed of kindness waiting to grow.

Emily Mortimer is extremely lovable as Amy, who works for Russ. Her acting is good, and I have to admit that I had to succumb to her cuteness- and I doubt anyone could help but to cheer her on through the whole story, she's so good as Russ's employee, who would like to like him, but gets shoved off every time she tries to be nice.

The story is fun and imaginative. Russ's eight-year-old self travels to the future to meet him as a thirty-nine year old. The young Russ doesn't think much of Russ's achievements (chickless, dogless...) while Russ doesn't want to remember that he was once an overweight, whiny loser.

Don't write it off as just another family movie thinking that you'll be able to predict the whole storyline. You won't. Sure, the guy gets the girl, and young Russ and old Russ grow to like each other and help each other out.

But as you watch the final ten minutes of the movie, as things start to get wrapped up, you will suddenly sit erect, brain churning, and when you figure it all out, you lie back, try to keep back the wide grin that is forcing itself on your face, give up, and say "Holy smokes!"

When this movie was shown on television, it wasn't announced as "Disney's The Kid", but just as "The Kid", a movie with Bruce Willis, and that's probably a good thing. I'm pretty sure I would never have taped it if I knew this was a Disney movie, fearing that all the syrupy nonsense would be too much for me to handle. Still, I don't know what made me decide to give this movie a try when I saw the title in the beginning of the movie, but in the end I was glad that I watched it, because it certainly wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.

Bruce Willis is Russ Duritz, a wealthy L.A. image consultant who's about to turn forty. He's a cynical workaholic who has estranged from his father, who has no memories of his childhood and who doesn't have a girlfriend, a family or even a dog. One night he surprises an intruder, who turns out to be an almost 8 years old kid. But there is something strange about him. The chubby kid is named Rusty and has a lot of similarities with Russ. Soon they find out that Russ and Rusty are actually the same person. Together they make a journey into Russ's past to find the key moment that has defined who Russ is. How this is possible, what it all has to mean and how it will affect both their futures will only be clear at the end of the movie.

In a way this is a very typical and predictable Disney movie with it's rather innocent and naive look on life, but I guess it can be enjoyable for adults as well. It is all very recognizable and it is a nice fairy tale about losing touch with your inner child. It certainly isn't the best movie ever, but it is some decent and heart-warming family entertainment that offers some nice acting and a good story. I would say: watch it with an open mind and you'll see it isn't as bad as you feared. I give it a 6/10.

Well, Disney does it again! Here is another pleasant family movie, but with some adulthood flavor this time. Bruce Willis is surprisingly good here, Spencer Breslin is charming, but Emily Mortimer needs to brush up her acting a little bit. The dialogs are mostly funny, combined with some touching moments. See this movie, and you will find out why the moon looks orangish when it just rises...

I thought Disney's The Kid (using Disney to differentiate itself from the 1921 version) wasn't the best kid movie ever made, but it was definately better than I thought from the previews. It turns out this film is a version of Bruce Willis' film from last year, The Sixth Sense. The difference (and of course) is that while in the Sixth Sense looked at a kid who kept seeing dead people and only one person could help him out, this film as a man who is dead inside and only one kid could help. Still, both films deal with supernatural dealings and Bruce Willis. Sometimes funny, sometimes melodramatic, but usually OK. Not the worst, but not for all kids. B+

Bruce Willis was perfect. The young actor is adorable and this movie actually makes you think about how our childhood forms our futures. I'm not going to go into detail. I just want to give my impression. The theatre I went to was packed with kids who thoroughly enjoyed it as did their parents. It's a movie that makes you feel warm all over. My other kids went to see Scary Movie and came out disgusted. I'm glad I picked this film instead.