The Real Howard Spitz
The Real Howard Spitz
| 28 August 1998 (USA)
The Real Howard Spitz Trailers

Howard Spitz is a cranky, has-been detective novelist out of money and out of luck - until he meets eight-year-old Samantha, who convinces him he has what it takes to write children's books.

Reviews
Plantiana

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

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Dirtylogy

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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Kaelan Mccaffrey

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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Ella-May O'Brien

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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Mark Price

Well I like Kelsey Grammar so I decide to watch this last night. Now I know he is not box office and my expectations were not built up so I was pleasantly surprised that I not only enjoyed it overall but laughed out loud in parts – mostly from the daughter. She had the best lines! Amanda Donohoe, normally glam personified played not quite plain but lacking self esteem very well. Kelsey Grammar plays the usual and that is not knocking him, he does that cynical but soft underneath to perfection. Yes a lot of the plot is predicable but you are hardly going to see something new. The main cast play well of each other and the one-liners are thrown away in a timely fashion.I can only think the earlier review had jet lag or bad service on his air flight. This is an excellent B movie.

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Spider-36

I first watched this movie on an airplane that was flying to London. That's when I fell in love with this movie. Then a few months later, when I had the chance, I rented it on video. I fell even more in love with it. It's a feel good movie, it's funny, and you don't feel as if you've just watch some Olsen twin movie or something. Genevive Tessier, who plays Sam, is the most darling little girl I've ever seen. Kelsey Grammer plays one of his best roles yet. If you don't see any other movie, see this one. It'll have you laughing out loud and it'll make you feel good too. Take my word for it.

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piotr-3

A very original, iconoclastic comedy about a failed pulp fiction writer (Kelsey Grammer) who tries to make it big in the kiddie book business. He enlists the help of a precocious little girl (Genevieve Tessier) and falls in love with her mother (Amanda Donohoe). Grammer and Tessier have great chemistry together, and the little moppet steals every scene she's in. An amazing mixture of odd-ball satire and warm sentimentality, this is a minor gem that seems to have fallen between the cracks of the film distribution system.

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dilbert

"The Real Howard Spitz" is the story of a detective writer who switches to children's books because he thinks there's more money in it. The only problem is, he doesn't particularly like children. Despite his curmudgeonliness, a little girl befriends him and encourages him to pursue this new career. Kelsey Grammer is utterly believable as the cynical, money-hungry author, and Amanda Donohoe is charming and beautiful as the little girl's mother (and, predictably, Kelsey Grammer's love interest). The film is supposedly set in the US but was actually shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia.This film is really intended for children but has one minor example of foul language. The children and young adolescents in the audience seemed to be having a good time, and Kelsey Grammer fans will, too. In my experience, there are very few terrible Canadian films, and "The Real Howard Spitz" certainly isn't one of them. Go see it, or rent it, because you certainly won't lose any special effects by seeing it on the small screen.

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