Willis Will Bring Out 'The Kid' In You

The title of the poignant comedy "Disney's The Kid" might be simple, but it works. That's because the movie has the mystical ability to bring out "the kid" in all of us.

Bruce Willis stars as Russ Duritz, a powerful, yet cold, calculating and cynical image consultant approaching his 40th birthday. First haunted by the buzz of a red, single-engine airplane, Russ' life is thrown into a complete tailspin when out of the blue he encounters Rusty, the geeky, wide-eyed, 8-year-old version of his former self (Spencer Breslin) whom he had all but forgotten (thus explaining his master ability of reshaping the image of others).

But the reunion is not all that happy, as Rusty soon discovers that he has grown up to be a "loser." Naturally annoyed, Russ wants young Rusty to go away, but he discovers that the only way that will happen is if he revisits the past in order to get on with his future. Along the way, the kid in Russ helps him remember his dreams from his past which just maybe will give him the power to become the man he truly wants to be.

It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that "The Kid," directed by Jon Turteltaub ("While You Were Sleeping," "Phenomenon") has good old-fashioned movie sensibilities. As a Disney film, appropriately, it harkens back to the heyday of Disney's live-action movies of the '60s and '70s (and, in fact, is without question cleaner than most of Disney's animated fare). Proclaiming once that he'd only make movies that he could take his mother to see, Turteltaub (who teamed with scribe Audrey Wells for this film) is one of the very few dependable modern-day filmmakers naturally capable of bringing back the innocence of Hollywood's past.

That's not to say that "The Kid" is necessarily a children's movie. Sure, there are certain physical elements and one-liners that are sure to gain a chuckle, but the core audience really is anyone approaching midlife. In fact, the older the audience member, the greater the longing for the past is sure to be. That's what gives the movie its broad appeal.

Oddly enough, "The Kid" plays like our own faint memories of early childhood. The narrative of what actually happened is fuzzy, but the sense memories of it are enough to keep you fascinated until you figure out exactly what it was that you were trying to remember. But in the movie world, meandering around in the plot is something that I'm certain wasn't intended. Thankfully, the wonderfully charming cast that also includes the adorable trio of Lily Tomlin, Jean Smart and Emily Mortimer ("Love's Labour's Lost"), keeps the action just on this side of eventful.

While "The Kid" has a childlike enthusiasm throughout, it really doesn't grow up until the last quarter of the movie, when we literally travel back to Rusty's childhood and truly begin to understand why he was visited by his past in the first place. That's when "The Kid" becomes a weeper of near-epic proportions, possessing a sort of Capra-esque "It's a Wonderful Life" magic that is sure to open up the emotional floodgates.

Of course, the key to that mystical quality is the pairing of Willis and Breslin, which by no means is a cheap setup of two actors impersonating one another. Aside from similar mannerisms, the two are really polar opposites -- which cinematically provides a character with a unique arc of emotions (though there are two actors, you have to consider that we are truly only dealing with one character here).

What makes the circle complete, however, is seeing Willis prove his dramatic range, while being careful once again (as in "The Sixth Sense") not to overshadow his talented, younger co-star. Heck, he even sheds some very believable tears, and effectively, one more layer of his action-star persona.

Although this is a movie clearly better suited for adults, it would be silly to discourage parents from bringing their kids to "The Kid." There are plenty of laughs for them, and if they just happen to "get" the morals of this fable, then maybe it will help them out in their own journey of self-discovery (it certainly won't hurt them).

Besides, how many people want the kid in them coming back in 30 years to tell them that they are a "loser?" That's a method of self-help that I'm sure most of us would just as soon avoid.

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