Product Description
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International superstar Bruce Willis (UNBREAKABLE, THE SIXTH
SENSE), along with Lily Tomlin (9 TO 5, TEA WITH MUSSOLINI),
Emily Mortimer (SCREAM 3, NOTTING HILL), and newcomer Spencer
Breslin star in the hilarious and heartwarming comedy DISNEY'S
THE KID. Successful, high-powered Russ Duritz (Willis) has spent
all of his incredibly empty life forgetting the child he used to
be -- until one day, he meets him face-to-face! Thinking this kid
is a hallucination, Russ does everything he can to make him go
away. But 8-year-old Rusty (Breslin), who's anything but happy
that he grows up to be a loser without real meaning in his life,
can't leave -- at least not yet. At once funny and charming,
DISNEY'S THE KID is a magical comedy that's filled with
adult-sized laughs.|Screenwriter Audrey Wells says she knew
immediately when she saw Spencer Breslin that he was the perfect
kid. "The kid spoke five words, and they weren't even words in
the script, he just walked on stage and said 'hello' and I knew
he was the one," says Wells.|"I was in the frozen food section of
a supermarket when my mom told me I got the part," says the
movie's young star, Spencer Breslin. "I couldn't believe it! I
just started screaming, 'I'm going to be in a Bruce Willis
movie!' People must have thought I was crazy, but I didn't care!"
.com
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Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis) is an ultracynical, 40-year-old L.A.
image consultant who fashions bogus façades for scumbag clients.
Oblivious to his own need for a makeover, he's a tyrant in the
office (to the chagrin of his sarcastic assistant, played to
perfection by Lily Tomlin), and he's emotionally unavailable to
the morally centered woman (Emily Mortimer) who senses goodness
beneath Russ's hardened veneer. Not a moment too soon, a pudgy
kid (Spencer Breslin) mysteriously appears in Russ's life,
revealing himself to be Rusty Duritz--that is, Russ's 8-year-old
self, arriving by some magic to put the adult Russ's life into
beneficial perspective. This variation on A Christmas Carol has
Rusty guiding Russ on a tour of his past to reveal how he became
a loveless, hard-shelled loser. It takes a bit of smarmy
chicken-soup psychology to explain it all, but The Kid is an
otherwise charming and involving fantasy, suggesting that perhaps
we'd all benefit from a bit of counseling by our younger selves.
Written with admirable restraint by Audrey Wells (who brought a
similar appeal to The Truth About Cats and Dogs) and directed by
Jon Turteltaub (Cool Runnings), the movie doesn't force its
supernatural elements or attempt to explain Rusty's existence.
It's just a fable for our modern age and a reminder to embrace
the better angels of our nature. Delivered with an easy blend of
humor and sentiment, that message makes The Kid an unexpected
pleasure. (Look closely for Matthew Perry as Willis's
shaggy-haired client.) --Jeff Shannon
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Additional Features
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Spencer Breslin may not steal every scene he's in as the title
role of The Kid, but he does steal every bit of the hilarious
commentary on the DVD. The extras focus on young Breslin, first
with a 20-minute featurette with behind-the scenes footage of
Spencer from his casting to the film's wrap. The witty and
playful director Jon Turteltaub reverses an old axiom stating he
loves working with kids, especially Spencer. He illustrates
this--and Spencer's unabashed enthusiasm--by sharing the
commentary duties with him, and the result is a 108-minute record
that's funnier than the film. Spencer asks questions out of the
blue ("Jon, does my DVD player come with a remote?"), repeats
Turteltaub's technical information with perfect irony,
embarrasses the director on continuity errors, and munches on an
occasional pickle. For anyone who falls for Spencer's charms in
the film (it's hard not to), the DVD commentary is a must, and a
new standard in laughs per commentary. --Doug Thomas
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