Mac and Me

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.