The Kid film review

certificate_PG

THE KID

There are moments in childhood we would all rather forget - incidents in the classroom or schoolyard which seemed like the end of the world and are now thankfully buried in time.

But imagine you could travel back to those early days, possessing all the knowledge you do now, and reshape the past. This is the central dramatic premise of John Turteltaub's schmaltzy reworking of A Christmas Carol, about a lost soul rediscovering his inner child.

Los Angeles image consultant Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis) is a bitter and twisted fortysomething who holds a deeply concealed grudge against his father, and terrorises his poor overworked secretary Janet (Lily Tomlin) with a venom that knows no bounds.

Thankfully, Janet is used to her boss's tirades and lets his insults wash over her, as does assistant Amy (Emily Mortimer), who Russ secretly loves but is too dumb and proud to admit it.

Russ is humourless, joyless and cruel and thinks nothing of tearing strips off a fellow passenger on an airplane flight just to bury his own self-loathing and frustration. He mocks his clients, including various politicians, celebrities and high-profile African American athlete Kenny (Chi McBride).

An inexplicable twist of fate brings Russ into contact with eight-year-old Rusty (Spencer Breslin) who bears a striking resemblance to himself when he was that age. The two bond, and as Rusty helps the adult Russ to revisit childhood victories and defeats, including a traumatic incident on the school playground, so the ghosts of the past can finally be laid to rest.

Consequently, Russ is finally able to get on with his life, and to rebuild strained relationships within his own family, and the people around him, most notably the lovely Amy.

Disney's The Kid is laden with enough dramatic syrup to rot the audience's teeth before they leave the theatre, but is somewhat unsure whether to pitch itself at youngsters (juvenile humour and slapstick) or their parents (angst-laden discussions about growing old and a nostalgic hankering for the past).

Willis returns to the lackadaisical style of acting which requires him to smirk once when he's depressed and twice when overjoyed, wrinkling his brow for added effect and to convey his character's deep-rooted melancholy.

He delivers his lines with the minimum of effort, although who can blame him when he's lumbered with such gems as: "I have forgotten my childhood. It's in the past where it belongs."