Did you people see the same film I saw?

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I probably wouldn't be able to find one other person that I know that has seen this movie. But that doesn't say anything about the film, which I think is obnoxiously cute. The little girl Jeanie is SO wise in her youth, she's this typical spoiled, wild child that is left with this man (Nick Nolte) that she doesn't know and acts the way she should (which is mostly why I like the movies so much) It's realistic in it's portrayal of her. It's one of those movies that I only see when it comes on UPN Sunday mornings (which I believe another commented on ha-ha) but it's true. That's the only that that anyone will probably ever see it. Don't look for too much to happen during it, it's a flat plot but full of really good characters and nice crying scenes for the girls ha-ha.

When I watched this movie I had two questions in my head:1) Where have I seen her (Joely Richardson) before? 2) Why is Nick Nolte doing this part, and not Ted Danson?The answer to Q1) is not so very interesting, but it is 101 Dalmatians. The answer to Q2) is more interesting. It seemed like Nick Nolte was trying to look and act like Ted Danson, especially in the beginning (when the character was young). And normally the original is better than the copy.Besides those two questions I think the movie was OK entertainment, but not more than that. The film is not trying to tell us something. If they wanted they could have made much more out of the issue "How is it to be a child actor?", but they didn't. Fair enough.Don't spend your money buying this film, but watch it if it gets aired on a TV.

Spoilers herein.There's a remarkably intelligent film hidden in here. I love watching old Welles films and trying to imagine the parts that the studios hacked out. And so here. The original idea was to have a deeply self-aware film, moreso than `The Player.' It was to have leveraged the shift inherent in a film musical : at some times, the audience is invited to see the story as representative of life, and at other times as representative of a show. Brooks puts tons of this stuff in `The Simpsons' and one can see the notion in his other TeeVee projects as well.But as I gather, this was actually supposed to be intelligent. Prince at this point was into self-referential songs and apparently increased the folding of an already baroque structure of who's looking at who. But (as with Welles), the studio financiers thought the paying audience was too dumb for all that, so brought in script doctor Elaine May (She of `Ishtar,' but nonetheless famously valuable as an invisible fixer).She straightened this film out so that a moron could understand it. Now it is not about the film business, but an ordinary sop about a dad discovering his precocious daughter. But you can see the joints where clever stuff might have been and the notion that parenting is a performance.They have kept one memorable Nolte moment. He is preparing to transform to a role. Watch how he changes, and also plays the meta-actor managing that change, and at the same time plays Nolte creating all three. It is his finest moment on film. I wonder if we will ever see the original version?Ted's Rating -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements.

This movie has really got the "Brooks Touch" and that's a very good thing. I can't understand why this has got such a low ratings on the IMDB, or why it is so little known. Like AS GOOD AS IT GETS and the even better, but overall largely underrated TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, this again is a wonderful story about real people. And when Brooks is in the director's seat, you know this film isn't going to take the easy way. I can only recommend this movie, especially because of the many lovely moments and the excellent dialogue. My only complaint is that some of the dialogue is a bit too smart for its own good and that it doesn't always ring true. The actors are very good too, especially Nick Nolte, Joely Richardson and the young Whittni Wright(who is wonderful). They're not the really big names, like in the two aforementioned movies, but they did a very good job. Also look out for the character played by Albert Brooks, which is very familiar with Jack Nicholson's character in AS GOOD AS IT GETS. It almost seems a trademark of James L. Brooks, who keeps delivering the goods with his original and always fresh romantic comedies. Don't miss this one! 8/10