The Kid & I

A dark comedy about a has-been actor and a kid with a disability would have been an impossible task had it not been for the brilliant screen writing by Tom Arnold and the amazing performances by both him and Eric Gomes. I walked into this movie thinking it would be another lame comedy about L.A. and was blindsided by an extraordinary experience. The movie is about love and friendship and compassion. I laughed and I cried. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the premiere of this film at the AFI film festival in L.A. and got a chance to meet the filmmakers. I was lucky enough to tell them something I would rarely tell an actor, producer, or director. What I said was, "Thank you for making such a beautiful movie."

The film is uneven in places. Tom Arnold is not a great actor. He and Richard Edson do not make a great comedy team, but the film works because of the chemistry he has with the kid, Eric Gores. Roger Ebert said he didn't know until the film was over whether or not Gores really had cerebral palsy. You should not know going in because it makes a big difference. The opening blurb says that it's mostly true, which is true, but not in the way that most true films are true. ("The Kid and I" IS "True Lies".) The featurette about how the film came about is great. Overall, I agree with Roger Ebert: the film accomplishes what it set out to do. I recommend it. It would also be a stretch to call it PG-13. I've seen far grittier fare on network television.

Some of the reviews indicate that the reviewers did not realize that Gores had been Tom Arnold's neighbor, and this is the film that Gores made. Art is life in this case. Fifteen years later it is not that important, I know.

The Kid & I was much better than I expected it to be. It wasn't great, but it did leave you feeling good at the end.

The performances were good as well. Good humor by Tom Arnold and laugh out loud moments by Val. (Gabby Sanalitro) Let's hope we get to see more of her in the future.

I would suggest seeing this film with your family. It is definitely the type of film that kids can relate to.

Gores also did a fine job, and should be an inspiration to other families that have children with CP.

If you can't catch it at the theater, it's worth renting.

I saw 3 new movies this weekend (12/3/05), and of them all The Kid And I was the best. This one is from the heart, and the only recent movie you could say that about. It's based on the true experience of Tom Arnold (who appeared with Arnold Schwarzenneger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies) with a young neighbor, Eric Gores, who has cerebral palsy. In the fictionalized movie, Arnold plays out-of-work actor Bill Williams (who also appeared in True Lies), about to commit suicide when his agent (Henry Winkler) tells him millionaire Joe Montegna (Searching For Bobby Fisher) offered half a million dollars to make a movie co-starring his son (Gores), who, like the actor playing him, has cerebral palsy.

You could tell the film was made with a relatively low budget (occasionally imperfect lighting, for instance), and Arnold's script has a few corny clichés, but on the whole it's original, imaginative, somewhat poignant, and as funny as most comedies out this year. What's more, the film is both entertaining for adults and appropriate for the whole family, with a minimum of the crude humor that permeates most of the other funny movies I've seen this year.

As an added bonus there are a number of cameo appearances by big stars. If you liked Arnold in The Stupids, this one doesn't have quite as much silly humor, but on balance is just as good. Heartily recommended for the whole family.