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12/06/05
The Kid & I (2005)
35
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:9
Rotten:17
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Well-intentioned but sappy, The Kid & I is a strange hybrid of comedy and cinema verite.
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: An offbeat piece of real-life wish-fulfillment, THE KID & I stars Tom Arnold as Bill Williams, a down-and-out actor who, just like Arnold himself, had his greatest screen success opposite Arnold... [More]
Starring: Tom Arnold, Richard Edson, Joe Mantegna, Henry Winkler
Director: Penelope Spheeris
Reviews for The Kid & I
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12/30/06
Newcomer Gores is endearing onscreen, but the film built around him is a mess: an amateurish script, a treacly score, barely there direction by Penelope Spheeris and a pointless parade of celebrity cameos.
12/02/05
The Kid & I qualifies as the most indulgent kind of homemade project, laden with tediously inspirational dialogue and visuals that seem shot through half-fizzled Yuengling.
11/29/05
Tom Arnold wrote and stars in this heart-on-sleeve "comedy" that will go down in cinema history as one of the most awkward additions ever made to the genre.
06/15/09
Despite a sentimental streak a mile wide and a truly worthy theme, Penelope Spheeris' The Kid & I is a truly bad film, an awkward and cringe-worthy effort.
12/02/05
Tom Arnold does have talent, but some self-defeating streak keeps him from using it.
12/02/05
Might make for marginally effective telephon amusement but is otherwise amateur hour.
11/22/05
A movie with a message as self-congratulatory as it is meta: All problems are surmountable when selfless Hollywooders work extra, extra hard, pulling together 'for the kid.'
11/30/05
The mesmerizingly awful The Kid & I is a historic first: a comedy about the making of a vanity production that is itself a vanity production.
12/06/05
Either the most inept vanity production ever made or the most deadpan satirical prank ever pulled.
12/02/05
Gores certainly seems to be enjoying himself, and diplomacy and plain old good taste prevent one from saying much of anything about his screen performance. Arnold doesn’t merit such kindness, nor does producer and director Penelope Spheeris.
12/01/05
Has straight-to-DVD written all over it.
05/04/06
The type of well-intentioned home movie-ish endeavor that should only be viewed by its cast's friends and family.
11/07/05
This wan attempt at inspirational comedy doesn't bother to look closely at anything.
12/02/05
Though The Kid & I falters as both a comedy and an After School Special, it works as a rather touching episode of This is Your Life, with a parade of cameos from Arnold's career that'll coax a sniffle or two from his family.
12/01/05
A chore to watch, The Kid and I is self-congratulatory, excruciatingly sentimental and sloppily written and directed.
12/01/05
Top CriticIt would be nice to say that The Kid & I delivers a heartwarming message of perseverance while showing a lighter side of Arnold and spotlighting a new star. Unfortunately, it would not be true.
12/02/05
Manages to be cloying, insulting, and self-serving in equally dire measure.
12/02/05
Works most poignantly as a testament to a father's love and an unapologetic celebration of Hollywood's m.o.
03/01/07
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