Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This isn't a great movie, by any stretch. The acting is hammy, and a very young Jimmy Osmond is frankly, too chubby to play The Great Brain. But if you like the John D. Fitzgerald novels, you'll find the film a treat. I'm glad it's out and that I taped it in the early 1980s. I'm not sure it's for sale on video. It's a definite G and post-toddler kids will like it. However, those adults unfamiliar with the Great Brain character will be turning off the channel or VCR pretty quickly. On the plus side, the sets of early, rural Utah are pretty well done and the cast, if inexperienced, is at least earnest.