Review of Mac and Me (1988) by Harry W — 05 Jan 2016

It's quite remarkable, and somewhat depressing, that arguably the greatest alien movie of all time was indirectly responsible for arguably the worst of all time. Mac And Me, infamous for nearly 3 decades now as a feature-length Coca-Cola commercial intertwined with a near beat-for-beat remake of E.

T., is every bit as bad as you'd imagine. I will admit to laughing on numerous occasions, at one point having to pause the movie so as to avoid missing anything important, and I use that word with all the sarcasm I can muster.

The whole movie is basically E.T. with every vestige of warmth, whimsy and wonderment removed entirely. The child acting is utterly atrocious, and the adults aren't much better. Compounding the awful script are the terribly staged deliveries, with the characters not understanding basic speech elements such as pauses and inflections, speaking their lines in a stilted, emotionless manner.

It was far more unintentionally hilarious than I expected, and I would certainly watch it again, albeit with a plentiful supply of booze at hand. It's a must see for any bad movie buff, and demonstrates exactly what can happen when commercialism and exploitation combine their evil forces and have a go at making a family film.

The results, as you might well expect, are far from pretty.