Prince of Central Park

I watched this movie recently and found it to be pretty good. I was surprised at the low ranking it was given here. That was before i realized that it was a remake of another very popular film. I may or may not have seen the original, i can't recall, however I feel it's unfair to slam this one because it doesn't quite stand up against the original movie. There were a few scenes that were very well done and genuinely touched me. I loved the scene on the ferry when the boy was imagining his mom writing a letter about her love for her son. I really felt the character's sense of loss in that scene. This technique is repeated when the JJ goes and rides on the carosuel that he had shared with his mom. Having said that, the movie is a bit uneven. The cast was terrific except for the kid playing JJ. There were times when he wasn't effective but hey he's only a child and not all children can give emotional performances in movies. Something else that bugged me is the way JJ stays clean and well groomed while living with a dog in a cave. Not very realistic. I also didn't feel Kathleen Turner gave a terrific performance, perhaps a bit of miscasting there. Overall I was entertained for a couple of hours and yeah it could have been better but there were some very powerful scenes that made it worthwhile.

I like the semi-eccentric guardian. He is like the father JJ never had. I like JJ's relationship with Sophie, it's was pure; full of love and care for each other, what every romance should be. I like the scene where he knocked the abusive woman unconscious and then placed an iguana there, that really was a good idea. I like the fact Rebecca let go of her son, and learned to love JJ as his own person, not a body to fill a void. I especially like the fact Noah loved "Reb" so fully, that he saw it enough reason to love JJ as his own. It is a beautiful and timeless story of love, if you can get past the human tendency to be critical of anything dispensed to a mass of people. Though I may not be the most eloquent or know much of film directing, I do know movies are made mainly for entertainment, enlightenment, or tradition. I believe a film only needs to leave a person a little more fulfilled than when they first saw in order to be worthy of viewing, and I am more fulfilled every time I watch it.

Remakes are bad news. There have been many examples of this in the past decade. From movies like Bedazzled and Sabrina to TV-to-movie repurposings like Beverly Hillbillies and McHale's Navy, the field is littered with failures. One can only hope no director will ever have enough gall to remake Casablanca or Citizen Kane.

I saw this movie only because an online TV listing misidentified this as the 1977 movie that I enjoyed so many years ago. That movie had a youthful joy and sense of innocence that was refreshing in the crime-ridden NYC of the '70s. Alas, apart from the boy's name and the fact that he ran off to Central Park, nothing else was even remotely similar. This JJ is not likeable at all. He's irresponsible and selfish and backed by a host of characters that I care little about, least of all the absurd Guardian, something of a second-rate Fisher King.

It would have been nice to celebrate Central Park's sesquicentennial this year with a DVD of the first movie. For now, I'll have to continue searching and waiting for it to air.

One of two movies that Steven Seagal produced with Julius R. Nasso that he didn't actually star in and is more of a curiosity than anything. It actually has a decent supporting cast that includes Harvey Keitel, Danny Aiello, Kathleen Turner, and Cathy Moriarty, however the material they were given to work with was hackneyed at best. The "star" of the film is one Frankie Nasso. I'll give you one guess as to how he got the job... Other than being miscast, he just didn't have a great screen presence. Beyond that, there were occasional glimpses of something compelling beneath the surface, with major plot themes involving the foster care system and homelessness. But again, they weren't dealt with adequately. This was a remake of an obscure 1970's TV movie, and this felt very much like something that should also have gone straight to TV (or video). Still, it wasn't all bad. There was some decent music on the soundtrack, and the supporting cast did a lot to make this hokum go down a little easier than it might have without them.

A young boy flees the clutches of his foster-mother and decides to take up residence in Central Park. There he meets a few people that will help him to shape his future: a bully, The Guardian (a witty Harvey Keitel) and a couple with needs of there own (Aielo and Turner). This movie has some surreal undertones and can count on a very strong cast to make the story not too sentimental.

A real treat for children of all ages.