Fun Size (2012)

A Masterpiece!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

A high-school girl - intent on attending a Halloween party hosted by the most popular boy in school- is forced to baby sit her adoringly troublesome younger brother whilst her mother undergoes a midlife crisis. An adventure ensues.This is a pretty disposable, teen flick with nothing particularly new - a kind of "Superbad - lite". But I think it has a lot going for it.The actors and characters are great and there is quite a lot going on under the bonnet. There are the normal teen themes of individualism, friendship and peer pressure. But there is also threads regarding loss and acceptance. It even looks at the mother who now finds her life at a loose end.But of course this movie is mostly about fun! It has its fair share of losers and jocks and cute little kids blowing things up with cherry bombs. etc. etc.This is hardly "Apocalypse Now" but for a afternoon NetFlix movie you could do an awful lot worse.

Fun Size is the teen comedy produced by Nickeloden (the company who are responsible for iCarly and Wizards of Waveraly Place). It is about a girl who is forced to babysit her little brother when Halloween plans go awry. However, he goes missing and she has to set out with her nerd friends to find him...wow, that is a bland plot.I have to admit, I didn't admire the idea of watching it judging from the trailer, but my friends wanted to see it, so I decided to give it a shot...what a dreadful mistake that was.I must have slept through most of the movie, as I can't really remember what happened, but I was jumping for joy in my seat when it finished. This is a plain, dim-witted, over-the-top and rarely funny film, which has an uninteresting storyline, stereotypical characters (the glamorous girls who fall in love with hot boys and the nerds with big glasses and rabbit teeth) and gross jokes (gross as in reference to sexual acts).The film is clearly aimed at young teenage girls, (it certainly didn't hit me)and is good for the drama queens.

I must first clarify that I like this kind of movies, is not a difficult formula to work, the popular and the losers young or teenagers, familiar faces or trendy, funny and absurd situations, etc. In the case of "Fun Size" which reminded me of "License to Drive" despite having known faces such as Victoria Justice, Chelsea Handler and Johnny Knoxville, nothing seems to work.It is one of the least funny comedy movies I've ever seen, I didn't get a laugh or even a smile, the characters are recycled, pretentious and soulless. Or maybe more than the characters the problem is a bad script or a very poor choice of cast. Even details like the color hair or the costume of the protagonist's seems to be accurate. It's all a mess.I understand what they wanted to do but they did not. They had the elements but weren't able to capitalize them. It was a big disappointment for me.

First off...there is no doubt that Fun Size is incredibly cheesy, over the top, impossible and requires you to truly turn off your brain, but so what?! I think that it tries very hard to capture those classic teen romp films like Adventures in Babysitting and John Hughes films however, sadly I think Fun Size doesn't quite hit that level of intelligence. The biggest issue with Fun Size is that it doesn't know what demographic its trying to hit. Its a Nickelodeon film but is far too mature for 10-12 year olds (in my opinion) and too silly for 13-16 year olds, so I suppose it'll appeal to a select few of full blown adults like myself that are looking to recapture their youth or just turn off their brain and laugh but that isn't a demographic that will make this successful. It does try very hard and despite all odds it is surprisingly funny at times, and even a little touching however predictable it might be. There are so few movies that are actually about Halloween so maybe this one will become its own cheesy classic. Certainly if you're willing to put the time in you need to lower your expectations and don't over think it. You'll enjoy the sheer silliness of it.Nickelodeon starlet Victoria Justice is very good in the lead role of Wren. She is believable, down to earth, and carries the movie quite easily. I actually think her level of acting ability probably exceeds a movie like this but she is owned lock stock and barrel by Nickelodeon so this is her lot in life for now. Jackson Nicoll is the adorably silent trouble maker Albert. He easily steals the show with his performance. He is perfectly cast and just so good at making you laugh as he goes on his madcap adventure. Chelsea Handler (who I don't like at all) actually pulls off a toned down comedic performance that is tolerable. That really is a big compliment coming from me towards her. Jane Levy is decent as the obligatory "best friend." The unfortunate part is that sometimes her character really does get irritating in her consistently selfish dialogue and character development. Thomas Mann is our geeky friend that loves our main character. He is good but certainly doesn't give a stand out performance. Mann and Justice are okay together but lack a certain top notch chemistry. Thomas Middleditch is also one of the better performances in a character that is slapstick and fun. Johnny Knoxville is appropriately dumb and over the top, its really the perfect role for him and I mean that as a backhanded compliment as well.I can understand where some people would really be down on this film. There is no doubt that it is full of clichés, in fact every character nearly reeks of cliché. TV master Josh Schwartz helms this film and he has certainly created and worked on some truly great TV shows and I'm not sure this is his best creation but he definitely sincerely tries. I couldn't help but laugh my way through this. The Chicken shack scene was priceless and despite being cliché so many of the physical comedy scenes, and situations that they get into are genuinely funny and certainly worth watching if you can put your expectations in check. 7/10