Mac and Me (1988)
Director: Stewart Raffill
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
First the good news: Jade Calegory, who plays the boy-hero in this cuddly alien yarn, was born with spina bifida, and the film is neither sentimental nor exploitative in dealing with its wheelchair-confined star. Unfortunately, there's little else to commend. Unless you missed E.T., you know the story: an alien, separated from its family and hunted by nameless agents, hides in suburban California, befriends a boy, and is saved by the neighbourhood kids. Directed by Raffill with no hint of wit, personality or invention, the film soon degenerates into a litany of product placements: every frame is littered with Coke cans, and the invitation to interpret 'Mac' as 'Mysterious Alien Creature' is unlikely to fool anyone even before the song-and-dance number that pops up in a well-known junk-food chain. Mind-blowingly, the last item on the shopping list of hard sells is America itself: the alien no longer wants to go home, he's found a better life in LA. Give the kids a break; take them to something else.Author: TCh
User reviews of this film
-
- John said...
- Posted on May 22 2008 00:35 Good intentions, but a rip-off nonetheless, bland and full of the most aggravating product placement in the history of film.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- kelly said...
- Posted on Sep 26 2007 04:07 This is an unashamed copy of ET, many of the scenes a strikingly similar, though the acting is not as good. That said it's still fun and kids will love it. Mac is an adorable little alien!!!!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Stewart Raffill
Producer: RJ Lewis
Cast: Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, Tina Caspary, Lauren Stanley, Jade Calegory, Vinnie Torrente, Martin West full cast
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Duration: 99 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.



What do you think?
Post your review now