I wanted to like this movie, but it didn't go anywhere. Christmas Flint was well played. Really likeable, cute kid. All the other child actors did standard child actor acting. There were a few scenes where I found myself thinking, "Really? That's the take they decided to use?". Also, I feel bad for the actress casted for the role of Smash. It seems her character was based on being the dumb, pudgy kid who breaks things and farts and doesn't serve a purpose but comedic relief.
One thing that really took me out of it, was how accepting everyone in that sleepy little southern town in the late 70's was of an effeminate little boy and little black girls. No one was mean or nasty or had anything to say. Don't get me wrong, I wish that's how it had been (and how it were now), but that's simply not the case. If anything, this movie would have been a great way to showcase that kids get along with each other regardless of differences and that it's adults who get lost along the way. But alas. It seems like the writers just wanted to use the aesthetics of a small town in the late 70's and the southern accent as gimmicks in their telling of an extremely milquetoast retelling of a story we've all heard a thousand times before.
One thing that really took me out of it, was how accepting everyone in that sleepy little southern town in the late 70's was of an effeminate little boy and little black girls. No one was mean or nasty or had anything to say. Don't get me wrong, I wish that's how it had been (and how it were now), but that's simply not the case. If anything, this movie would have been a great way to showcase that kids get along with each other regardless of differences and that it's adults who get lost along the way. But alas. It seems like the writers just wanted to use the aesthetics of a small town in the late 70's and the southern accent as gimmicks in their telling of an extremely milquetoast retelling of a story we've all heard a thousand times before.