Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

ella-48 This film has long been a favourite of mine, and I enjoyed seeing it again this afternoon on Channel 4. To be honest, what I'm about to write isn't really a review at all, merely a curious observation. Here goes anyway...It's fun to watch this film with an eye for identifying people who have since gone on to greater fame. I believe I may have spotted one very well-established performer who has a nice cameo part but isn't even credited in the cast-list!Approximately 25 minutes in, we have the audition scene in which Blousey Brown misses her chance to be heard. The first hopeless "act" we see being auditioned is a light opera singer, warbling ineptly through the opening lines of "Velia, Oh Velia" before being kicked offstage.I may be wrong, but I'm pretty convinced that this is a young Sylvestra Le Touzel - and yet this performance doesn't appear in her resume/filmography at all, either here on IMDb or anywhere else I can find. Chronologically it's possible, as she would have been about 17 years old at the time Bugsy Malone was being made.I wonder if anyone out there can tell me whether or not I'm right? If you're reading this, Ms Le Touzel, do put me out of my misery - is it you? ;-)

Bill Goode This musical is a satire on the prohibition and resulting violence occurring in the 1920's. All the characters are kids playing adult roles. The satire is drawn against Bugsy Malone's younger life. The cars are all peddle operated. People get shot with paint and there are plenty of pies in the faces to substitute for violence. Instead of dealing in liquor, the kids are black marketing sarsaparilla (root beer). It's just a great satire of the prohibition era made into a musical, a great credit to younger generation actors. All the kids really do act the part of adults and do it very well. It is too bad the singing is not credited.

johnstonjames movies are seldom more clever and original than 'Bugsy Malone'. sure it's been done before but there wasn't anything like it except the 'Our Gang' comedies with the Little Rascals. not only does 'Bugsy Malone' achieve a high level of originality, it also features a winning score by pop icon Paul Williams and is excellently conceived by top notch director Alan Parker of the original 'Fame' movie.there's also nothing about 'Bugsy Malone' that is too saccharine. it's sweet but it's not too sweet and it features some very mature performances from it's all child cast. especially Jodie foster and Scott Baio who seem years beyond their age which is part of the fun.this movie also seems years ahead in terms of the "gangster" genre and it's satirizing of it. there are scenes that seem eerily right out of 'Miller's Crossing' and that movie hadn't even been made yet.most of all 'Bugsy Malone' showcases a excellent pop score by Paul Williams that manages to be good contemporary pop as well as evocative of the 1930's time period.there are few films even to this day that are quite like 'Bugsy Malone', and that's good. it keeps it's spirit of originality fresh. originality is what sets this fine family film apart from other films, especially in a industry full of imitators and sequels and remakes. but most of all, it's a hilarious family film and lots of good clean fun.

Matt James I was about 8 when I saw this film and I mostly loved it for being a child's chance to emulate the adult world with cool props and realistic dialogue. But even at that age songs sung by adults coming from kids mouths seemed plain wrong to me. At 14 Jodie Foster (Tallulah) who "mothered" the film looked sensational and could carry a fair tune (though I'd have chosen a better song for her) and other cast members wouldn't have had to sing like professionals to fill the role.Bugsy (Scott Baio) was overly cute and sassy - two things that don't go together, in anyone but mostly in Baio. The Al Capone clone, Fat Sam (John Cassisi) needed, I felt, a firm slap every time he opened his cavernous gob, but that just meant he'd nailed the part perfectly. And he did.Still, much of the film worked: the splurge gun shootouts were funny then and are funny now. (As a child I had "shoot-outs" with friends and we did the whole 'Cagney' and staggering about mortally wounded thing as kids do.) The pedal-car Packards were hilarious squeaky-wheeled parodies. The dancing was well choreographed and rehearsed.Sadly the film won't age well because soon there will be kids that won't understand what the film is a parody of - let alone being able to find Chicago on a map of Chicago. But for the lucky ones this is mostly a fun and entertaining film.