The Wizard

Starring: Luke Edwards, Fred Savage, Christian Slater, Beau Bridges, Jenny Lewis, Tobey Maguire (bit part)
Directed by: Todd Holland
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Drama
1989

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Two brothers (Fred Savage, Luke Edwards) travel across country with a resourceful girl (Jenny Lewis) to try and get to a video game competition.

Review:

Tim: I grew up loving this movie. I can still remember the first time I ever saw it (I was quite young). I loved it because of the adventure and the drama our three heroes face in their cross-country trip. I loved that it featured video games, especially video games that I was familiar with. It was a great movie.

Fast forward years later. Many, many, many days have passed, I've seen over a thousand additional movies, and I am much more experienced when it comes to watching motion pictures. I've since come to realize that this is in fact, not a great movie. It is still entertaining, and I still like it. It is flawed, but although its a family movie from the late 1980s, it still stands up today. The video game scenes are a bit silly and completely outdated, but the movie's heart remains.

Fred Savage makes a very good leading boy. He had a great deal of charm as a child, and puts that into full effect here. Luke Edwards is also quite good. I'll never forget how he says, "Cal-i-forn-ia." I really like it. He also has a certain charisma that makes your heart really go out to him. You just want to protect him and make sure he is safe. That is at the very heart of this movie.

The Wizard occasionally does appear outdated and a bit absurd. However, the whole movie is all in good fun and it is quite enjoyable (if you can look past the whole 80s thing). I loved it as a child and I still enjoy it today. Worst case, it is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, and that's not so bad once in a while.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Cure, Radio Flyer, Little Monsters