ridiculous rating

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

To start off, this is a movie I hadn't heard of. One time while I was at the gym on the treadmill, one of the T.V.s had this movie on. It was on mute with closed captioning. It looked like a kid movie, yet it was more entertaining than the other things on T.V. like sports and the news. I was entertained with how much of it I saw while running the treadmill, and decided to rent it.I saw this movie, and even as an adult I loved it. Too bad it doesn't have the best reviews. I'll be a person that gives this movie a positive review. But, first I want to compare this to a story involving magic that we're all familiar with, Harry Potter. I've read the Harry Potter books and enjoyed them. I think they're clever, and I think the story of how J.K. Rowling didn't have the book originally published, but didn't give up and is now the second richest woman in England is very inspirational. At the same time, I think Harry Potter is extremely overrated and has its flaws in the book. One of the flaws, is I feel like the book focuses too much on the wizarding world, and not enough on the real world, and doesn't leave us with enough good messages, which I felt that this movie was inspirational, relatable, and left us with good messages.Now saying how Harry Potter is about a boy that's a wizard, this movie is about a boy named Bobby. The movie starts when he's 5, but we mostly see him as a 12-year old. He isn't considered a wizard, but a boy that is interested in magic, wanting to be a magician. Also, a shy boy who has a dog named Ozzy. He got that dog early in the movie, when it was stray not knowing the dog is very old and part of the wizarding community. Bobby walks everywhere with Ozzy, even places that you think normally wouldn't allow dogs. While Bobby looks for a book on magic, he really becomes a magician, and Ozzie immediately becomes more real. However, the main wizard villain is after the book too, and Bobby quickly learns that he is the chosen one.This movie has wizarding action. The kind of action we like to see in movies that involve wizards and action. This action to me, felt more realistic than the action we see in Harry Potter. The magic tricks felt like real magic tricks that we could imagine seeing in a magic show. I'll say that in the Harry Potter Universe, the magic in it doesn't feel much like magic, but just part of the wizarding world. What the wizards have and are capable of. This movie gave more of a feel of what we think of as magic.Another thing to say which I feel like this scene alone beats Harry Potter. I'd say the scariest scene in the movie, was a scene involving a suit of armor. I don't want to spoil it and say what happens, but that scene felt too real while watching it. It was very well done!! It could make you imagine being in the same situation.I feel like this movie could be even scarier than Harry Potter, because a lot of the things felt more real. I'm not saying this movie was too scary, definitely not. But, it did have scary scenes, especially the scene I mentioned above. You also really feel for the characters, and you hope Bobby can succeed at magic, along with getting money to help his mom who is having trouble paying for the house.I don't see why people don't like this movie? It's family friendly and at the same time has scary scenes. But, it really offers a perspective and good message. Sometimes, we have to believe in ourselves, along with getting ourselves out, not just being so shy. To me those messages came to me more than the messages from the Harry Potter books. I'd consider this a completely different story than Harry Potter, and a little better. I'd recommend this to you. But if you're like most of these other people reviewing the movie, you might not like it. If you're like me, and if what I posted above makes this movie sound interesting, you'll like it.

A man who looks like Merlin is being chased through the woods by a bearded man in a black robe who reminds me of a Harry Potter villain. They are being watched by a dog.We see the same dog as Bobby, who is about to turn 5, is playing catch with his father Jack who is not home much because he is about to become salesman of the year at his company.One night Jack is driving home and he is disoriented by bright lights. The next thing we know, a man who turns out to be a psychiatrist is talking to Bobby, along with teaching him magic. The psychiatrist explains that Bobby's problems are the result of losing his father.The dog keeps showing up, and eventually Bobby names him Oswald or "Ozzy" and persuades his mother that they should keep him. The villain from the woods shows up claiming the dog is his, but something isn't quite right and his mom calls the cops. Eventually, Ozzy is trained to be Bobby's service dog.Seven years later, Bobby is an expert on magic and while that helps make him popular at school, bullies make fun of him for having a service dog. Bobby's mother has lost her job and they may lose their nice house. And Tiny, a huge man who runs a diner, doesn't care what Bobby is allowed to do. That dog stays out! However, Tiny has a boss who disagrees, and later, Tiny regrets his actions. It's really funny.One day Bobby goes in a bookstore and a mysterious book appears. Bobby is curious and it turns out he has just enough money to buy it. The wizard from the woods shows up and explains to Bobby that he is responsible for taking care of the book. And bizarre things start happening. Bobby has the ability to do magic, not just fool people the way contestants on Penn & Teller's show do. And one more thing: Ozzy can TALK! And he has lots of advice for Bobby, as he explains that he was sent to Bobby and has been protecting him for years.Bobby figures out that his newfound abilities will help save him and his mother from being kicked out of their home. Meanwhile, there are plenty of obstacles in his way, including the fact that the villain from the woods shows up in a movie Bobby is watching (actually, it looks very much like the opening scene of this movie), and as one of the other people in the theater describes it, the 3-D effects in that movie are spectacular.After going through a very difficult process that includes several disappointments and failures, and plenty of laughs for us, Bobby gets his happy ending. It may not be the one you would expect, but it is quite satisfying.This is a mostly pleasant family movie, one appropriate for the entire family, though a few parents may be concerned about some minor details. It is kind of scary at times, and there is the loss of a parent (which is handled about as gently as it could be) but there is nothing particularly harmful.Will Spencer is quite good as 12-year-old Bobby and while there is sort of a formula here, this movie offers plenty of surprises.Jacob Whitkin does an impressive job as both the psychiatrist and the man who looks like Merlin.Numerous annoying inspirational songs from different genres show up from time to time. There was one song even I could like. I would describe the style as somewhere between Karen Carpenter and Feist.The visual effects are pretty impressive but not groundbreaking.It's pretty obvious more than one dog is used for Ozzy, and that some of the dogs may not be real. In fact, Ozzy generally looked kind of weird and unrealistic. Just use your imagination.It's a good family film with nothing really harmful.

This is the cutest movie I've ever seen and it's so heartwarming. I think that all ages would enjoy this short film. It includes plot twists and an enjoyable ending. As well them movie shows how such a passionate child even going through bullying and a loss of an important family member can push through and succeed in their dreams with a helpful companion. It shows how being kind to someone and showing that you care can really make a difference in a world that is cold hearted and unfriendly sometimes. The movie has a good message and is intriguing enough for everyone to enjoy the movie. I think that even though the graphics are not so great at times, It is important to look past that and understand the simple message. It is the best movie ever and although it may seem silly it truly reflects how small things can really make a difference.

I'm honestly stunned that this script got approved and was actually made into a "movie"! Outside of the terrible acting from basically every cast member the story was incredibly weak with more holes in it than Swiss Cheese! The special effects looked like they were done by a high schooler working on a class project. As the movie progresses (if you can even call it that) it looks like the cast and crew started giving up on the movie and just threw random clips in and used non experienced actors to play small roles. This is very obvious in the Million Dollar Talent Show segment. It's almost too hard to watch! I can't image this movie doing well at all unless the budget was $10,000 and someone forced a bunch of people to go see it. Hopefully nothing like this ever gets made again!