The Real Howard Spitz

A very original, iconoclastic comedy about a failed pulp fiction writer (Kelsey Grammer) who tries to make it big in the kiddie book business. He enlists the help of a precocious little girl (Genevieve Tessier) and falls in love with her mother (Amanda Donohoe). Grammer and Tessier have great chemistry together, and the little moppet steals every scene she's in. An amazing mixture of odd-ball satire and warm sentimentality, this is a minor gem that seems to have fallen between the cracks of the film distribution system.

Howard Spitz is a writer of gritty detective thrillers; problem is more people have been on the moon than actually buy his books and the debts are piling up. Bitter and angry, he has a revelation when he meets Theodora Winkle – an author of children's books who sells millions of simple books at $9 each. Spitz cannot believe it could be so simple to print cash and decides to bash out a book about "Crafty Cow", get it printed and watch the money roll in. Reading books in the kids section of the library, he meets Samantha Kershaw who tells him all kids love the books and off he goes. However when his first draft is a gritty detective thriller featuring a dead cow he returns to the library and asks for Samantha's help in writing the book. In return he tells her he will look for her father – who left Sam's mother before she was born. Everything is simple until he finds out that he will have to meet the children his books sell to.

Late one night in the UK, this film was screened on terrestrial television and several of the top reviewers on IMDb settled down to watch it – namely MovieCritic and Theo; what was this classic you ask? Well "The Real Howard Spitz". And what a rather uneven affair it is too, in many regards. When you look at the basic premise it sounds good and parts of the film are funny and enjoyable; but the plot is cluttered with some ideas that don't work as well as others and it makes the film feel rather messy and full of as many good moments as average/weak moments. Generally it is enjoyable but it is a very uneven film that requires you to be a bit forgiving and undemanding. The direction strangely matches this feel; mostly it is straightforward but it also throws in lots of strange angles and uses weird lenses occasionally – it doesn't take a great deal away from the film but it doesn't add anything either (although some of the camera work was pretty cool). Also, as others have seen, the use of music was strange as well.

The performances are mixed. Personally I thought Grammar was pretty good – a nice step away from his usual Fraiser character but yet still with a similar dark wit to him that works. Donohue could have been anybody and was unmemorable. Tessier was pretty much an annoyingly cute kid but what makes her performance good is that her and Grammar have chemistry and go together pretty well. The support cast are so-so, not making a great impression at any point without really being "bad"; but the film is Grammar's and I enjoyed him.

Overall this is a mixed and uneven affair that just about did enough to entertain me. The ideas are mostly good but the scattergun feel to it doesn't help it work and it really could have done with being tighter and more fully developed. It is quite funny, quite interesting and quite engaging – not great, but distracting and different enough to be worth seeing.

Well I like Kelsey Grammar so I decide to watch this last night. Now I know he is not box office and my expectations were not built up so I was pleasantly surprised that I not only enjoyed it overall but laughed out loud in parts – mostly from the daughter. She had the best lines! Amanda Donohoe, normally glam personified played not quite plain but lacking self esteem very well. Kelsey Grammar plays the usual and that is not knocking him, he does that cynical but soft underneath to perfection. Yes a lot of the plot is predicable but you are hardly going to see something new. The main cast play well of each other and the one-liners are thrown away in a timely fashion.

I can only think the earlier review had jet lag or bad service on his air flight. This is an excellent B movie.

I first watched this movie on an airplane that was flying to London. That's when I fell in love with this movie. Then a few months later, when I had the chance, I rented it on video. I fell even more in love with it. It's a feel good movie, it's funny, and you don't feel as if you've just watch some Olsen twin movie or something. Genevive Tessier, who plays Sam, is the most darling little girl I've ever seen. Kelsey Grammer plays one of his best roles yet. If you don't see any other movie, see this one. It'll have you laughing out loud and it'll make you feel good too. Take my word for it.

I'm not really sure what the point of this was but to be fair it is watchable in a mildly amusing sort of way. Kelsey Grammar is a down-on-his-luck alcoholic who dresses up as a children's TV cow (a la Barney), and in the process begins a friendship with a young girl which he never expected.

I rented this movie years ago and enjoyed it for what it was. It's not totally offensive (although some of the innuendo and not-so-subtle sex jokes involving cows and teets might turn off parents from letting their kids watch it) and Kelsey Grammar is always pretty funny.

However in the long run I felt as though filmmaker Vadim Jean (whom I've had the pleasure of speaking to and is a really nice guy) didn't really know where to go with the script, it's a mix between adult drama and children's comedy and in that regard it's a mixed bag.

Still worth watching if you get a chance, though.