'Kid' needs some discipline

By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

Don't look for logic in this far-fetched Disney schmaltz, which is elevated more than it deserves by good performances.

The mellowing of Bruce Willis continues in Disney's The Kid, and, yes, that is the official title of the movie. Not just The Kid, but DISNEY'S confection of one, as if Michael Eisner took out a trademark on childhood.

Come to think of it, maybe the Mouse House emperor has tried that by now.

Willis plays Russell Duritz, a trouble-shooting image consultant with a cynical attitude and clients deserving it. He isn't above exploiting children, either. Russell is practically a porcupine in a $2,000 suit, bristling when anyone interrupts his prosperous yet pathetic life.

We know what Russell needs to turn that bad ol' frown upside down. Same thing that worked for Dudley Moore and Judge Reinhold in previous forgettable movies about regaining one's inner child. Russell will meet the ghosts of schoolyard hazings past. His escort will be himself at age 8, plump, clumsy and mush-mouthed.

How this happens doesn't matter to screenwriter Audrey Wells, who addressed middle-age craziness much more intelligently in last year's Guinevere. Perhaps Wells wrote The Kid and Disney added the schmaltz along with the title prefix. This feels like a fairly smart movie terribly dumbed down.

Like it or not, even a fluffy fantasy needs some ground rules. The Kid has none. Little Rusty (played by newcomer Spencer Breslin) must be a figment of guilt and imagination, so why is he visible to everyone else? Why don't they also see the red biplane buzzing around town like Russell's own Rosebud, unlocking his childhood? Movies can be far-fetched, but they shouldn't be so arbitrary.

Willis handles the material better than it deserves. As he moves farther away from his Die Hard image, the Moonlighting qualities that earned Willis the chance to be a movie star are returning. He works best with a minimum of acting flourishes (i.e. The Sixth Sense) and wisely avoids wacky impulses, unlike The Whole Nine Yards, for example.

Willis' mumbled subtlety in The Kid reminded me of another actor, but I couldn't figure out who it was until the climactic twist. More of a curlicue, actually. We'll keep the plot secret here, but take a good look at Willis' rascally expression and makeup. This guy can be Paul Newman if he chooses.

[Photo: Disney Enterprises] Not a knockout: Bruce Willis, right, flexes his acting muscles in Disney’s The Kid, but his young co-star, Spencer Breslin, needs more training.

Alas, young Mr. Breslin may not have that choice. He has an acting range suitable only for 30-second commercials, scrunching up his face in preparation to deliver a line, then taking a break before the next one. Conversations elude his attention. Breslin's lack of polish works sometimes -- his reaction to another family living in his home, for example -- but lacks character beyond his belt size and a bowl haircut.

Emily Mortimer (Notting Hill) is feisty and freshly scrubbed as Russell's assistant and love interest, if he'll ever "grow down." However, two scenes shared by Willis and Jean Smart as an ambitious TV reporter make a viewer wish she had been given the romance angle. Wells also wrote a few show-stopping scenes for Smart in Guinevere. Please, Ms. Wells, give her an entire film.

Another oasis is Lily Tomlin cracking wise as Russell's beleaguered secretary. Her patient face and offhand line deliveries raise the movie a notch during her scenes.

The Kid mostly endures its own split personality. More than an hour is devoted to high jinks easily grasped by children, while the final 20 minutes of baby boomer angst will befuddle them. The filmmakers don't know where to go with the story or what to do when they get there. Russell's primary life lesson apparently is: Lead with the left jab. Even my inner child rolled his eyes at that one.

Disney's The Kid

• Grade: C-
• Director: Jon Turteltaub
• Cast: Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, Lily Tomlin, Emily Mortimer, Jean Smart, Chi McBride
• Screenplay: Audrey Wells
• Rating: PG; mature themes, mild profanity
• Running time: 104 min.