Where's Willie?

An exceedingly ordinary family movie, filmed with the younger generation especially in mind, the premise of a boy genius works out to be amusing at times but drone at other times, and the film makes overall nothing more than satisfactory viewing. The acting, the technical side of the film and the screenplay are all quite average in quality - although, it might be of concern to some that the science behind it all is a little bit off. Not really a film for adults, perhaps the younger viewers will be able to take something out of it, but either way, it does not come highly recommended as anything better than just 'okay'.

The movie is actually set in the town of Kerrville, Texas and came on the heels of a movie made there the year before (Pony Express Rider). My grandfather has a bit part in the movie as the judge in Willies dream sequence. It has taken me over 3 years to find a copy of this movie as it went directly to TV and had a limited video release. The story is OK and the acting is adequate while the FX leaves a lot to be desired even by 1978 standards.

I was in this movie filmed in Kerrville Texas. Although my scene only saw the editing room floor. I never saw a penny from the week of filming.

There was a big controversy in the San Antonio paper about how the company did not pay the actors (notice all the Kerrville people). I went to see it in the theater when it came out and that is how I found that my scene was cut. Just a bad experience for a 8 year old kid at the time.

Movie was not that good so maybe it was for the best I did not show up in it.

I remember seeing this moving on at least two occassions while still in High School. It was sometime between 1981 and 1983, and the movie was playing together with some other show as a double feature at the Valley Twin theater in Kearns, Utah. This movie was rather interesting. It featured a young kid (who I thought looked a little bit like Barret Oliver, and later discovered it wasn't him) who was a computer and electronic genious. He'd talk to his friends at night over his cb radio when he was supposed to be in bed sleeping. He was always getting into mischief. He had invented some kind of remote control device that would do the impossible. An example was a scene where he was in school, he discretely points the remote at the clock on the wall and the time fast-forwards, causing the bell to ring and class lets out early. There were other scenes involving this same gadget where, if I recall, it confused traffic lights and caused a traffic jam. There is also something about a bank, where I believe the kid uses the remote to bypass the bank's security. His father, if I remember correctly, played some kind of authorative role in the movie, I think he was a police officer, I'm not sure. I thought the movie was rather cute. It was a school kid's fantasy, somewhat like "Ferris Beuhler's Day Off", only aimed at younger kids. I thought the movie was rather cool. A bit far-fetched, but a good show that the entire family would enjoy watching. Hardly anyone's heard of this one and I'm glad to know somebody out there actually remembers it! I have no idea where to find this show on video tape.

There's a big hush around the room. B-list celebrity steps up to the podium to open the envelope for the prestigious award for WORST TAGLINE EVER. And it goes to..

THE COMPUTER KID!

Much scenes of joy as the winner celebrates. And really, there was no competition. Let's hear that dreadful sentence again in all its glory.

When the CHIPS are down, it's time to BYTE back.

It's wrong on so many levels, it's just brilliant. What kind of deranged publicist would dream up something as awful as that? I don't know, but it's certainly the ingeniously terrible one I've ever heard. And now it has the accolade to prove it! I'm so happy..

*CLEARS THROAT* Anyway down to business.. There's this kid see? It's the 70's, so obviously he has a bowl cut and rides around everywhere with his best mate on their bikes in the age before paedophilia. The unusual thing about him though, is he has an IQ of 180 and he's invented this electronic box that can seemingly do anything, from controlling the traffic lights to causing a city wide black-out. His father though, being an ungrateful so and so doesn't like his precious boy causes car jams for miles around and cutting the power of every house in the district. He wants his son to be more 'normal' and play some sports, so he takes the lad out on a little fishing expedition. But the young genius finds a way to utilise his talents there too, and helps his dad catch every trout in that lake by simply pushing one of the buttons on that miracle gadget of his. Sadly, his dad starts going off on one again about him using technology to solves all of life's little problems, so feeling unappreciated and unloved he decides to run away from home with his little dog in tow. Will the sprog return to save the day? Perhaps his father will see the error of his ways and realise how blessed he truly is? The answer may surprise you..

Or maybe not. All I will say is, I wanted to spank that child. Hard. On the behind. With a rolled up newspaper. There have been some intolerable brats in cinema history, but this brainiac with his chipped tooth smile and baby blue eyes is by far the most irritating. But of course corporal punishment is illegal. So you didn't hear me say any of that. Besides, I can console myself with the fact that his film career never worked out, and he's probably mowing the lawn now, being chewed out by his wife for spending too long at the pub while she looks after his 2.4 children. HA! See, me laddo? You're not better than the rest of us at all! HOW YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?! Boy that felt good.. Now, what next? Oh yeah, the film. Well, don't watch it for the simple reason that you will die of boredom before it ends. No, really. The only redeeming feature is that it happens to be so rare that avoiding it shouldn't be difficult. Hurray! So your family don't have to arrange that funeral after all. That's it. Till we meet again.. 2/10