Review of Mac and Me (1988) by Jason O — 13 Sep 2009

How can a great movie like this just average 3 stars, with mostly 1 star reviews?

A group of aliens get stranded on Earth, and one of them (the youngest one, named Mac) then gets separated from his family, just to end up at the house of a family who just moved into a new neighborhood. One member of that family, a handicapped boy, is lonely and seems to need a friend. A human being and an overly skinny alien with big eyes that has magical powers can't have much in common, but hey, opposites attract.

Yeah, it's an "E.T." ripoff, but so what? It's excellent for a ripoff. It's a long commercial for McDonald's and Coca-Cola. And your point is? There are tons of movies advertise products by getting the actors to visit their places or consume their products.

It shouldn't matter that "Mac and Me" is pretty much a clone of another movie--that it's not the most original title out there. What should matter is its entertainment value and good qualities, and it has a lot of those. "Mac and Me" is a great, heartwarming movie about friendship that manages to be funny, interesting, and entertaining from beginning to end. It shouldn't go without mentioning that the movie also has nice scenery and a great soundtrack on top of it all to add to the experience.

Don't be shallow. Let your imagination soar. If you have kids, "Mac and Me" is an excellent movie to get for them. I'd say it's one of the best family movies of its kind. I was eight at the time the movie came out on video and I've owned it and loved it since. Now that I'm no longer a kid, I still find it to be a nice film to watch from time to time, and I can't wait to share it with my kids in the future. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2003.