Rent Bugsy Malone on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Alan Parker
Directed by: Alan Parker
Starring: Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Florence Garland, John Cassisi
Rated: G
Watch the trailer
Plot
The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.
Verdict
It's a curiosity, a mash-up of children's theater and gangster movies. It comes up short in all the typical facets of a movie. The acting is rough, except for Jodie Foster, the story is weak, and it's just not interesting. Are these kids playing dress up or is this a satire of gangster movies? The odd artistic choices are both the only reason to watch this and the biggest reason not to.
Skip it.
Review
Even being aware of the ridiculous premise, I was still morbidly curious. This is a musical where children play gangsters and their guns shoot whipped cream. The problem is that this feels like theater, some kind of show. We know this is fake, and the child actors constantly reinforce it. Movies usually try to impart a sense of realism, transporting you to a different world. This never creates the illusion, it doesn't even make an attempt.. Are we supposed to accept this world as real or is the fact that everything is so clearly an imitation of a movie part of the joke?
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| Florrie Dugger, Scott Baio play Blousey Brown, Bugsy Malone |
This is never more than kids playing dress up. It's not a typical kids' movie, but I'm sure it also appeals to young children in the sense that they're pretending to be adults, playing dress up. This is never anything more than an oddity. If this were live children's theater, the choices would begin to make sense, but this just seems like the wrong choice for the medium.
If I watched this as a kid would I have enjoyed it, finally seeing a movie with someone like me in it? Would that in turn give me more nostalgia now? The old adage two bad ideas make a good idea are stretched to the limit in this movie, but it creates this strange production that never really makes any sense.
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