Hottoceame
The Age of Commercialism
Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Kayden
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
drystyx
Before watching the film, I realized it must have been quite a challenge, not to the actors, but to the writers, to update it. With knowledge of writing, I figured one writer could probably do it, but that a team would probably dilute it terribly.Four writers are listed, two as major writers, so it isn't as badly diluted as if a large team did it.And the writers did well.We have an up to date Beaver, with an up to date world, but still keeping in the story line of basic day to day life struggles, and drawing some comedy from them.If I was to nit pick, it would be at the parents. Ward and June are nothing like the old series. While the other characters seemed perfectly cast, it looked like there was an attempt to deviate from Beaumont and Billingsley in the portrayal of the parents. Hugh's Ward was not nearly the pretty boy we see in this movie. Nor was he as ill tempered. Hugh was the personification of moderation.That said, the actors were all very good. I've worked in little "real life" depiction films before, and each scene is extremely time consuming to film, and the more "ordinary" a scene appears, the more time it takes to film it. This, of course, is because Fantasy can have multiple depictions, but watching a grade school Football game is "watching a grade school Football game", and less can be left to chance. In these scenes, it really looks like all the participants were very patient. Not many people realize how much tougher an innocuous movie like this is to film. I always laugh when small movie producers will be reluctant to do a Fantasy based movie because of budget, when the budget for this sort of film is set at a large scale, while one can be lax with the other.This new LEAVE IT TO BEAVER did a lot of very good things. The way the characters interwove throughout the piece was especially good. A little storybook? Not nearly so much as one would think, and no more story book than mere coincidence of all that can happen in a day will allow. It looks like the writers spent a ton of energy into interweaving the characters in the story, and came up with a very elaborate, well designed scheme.Some very well done scenes, like the skating rink, but it's not fair to single these out, because all of the scenes were well done. I won't credit the director for keeping an entire cast and crew in line, because it is the cast and crew who deserve credit for their patience. Anyone could direct a team as disciplined as this.That's not to put down the director. You have only to look at my high rating of the film to know how I feel about that. Everything was well done. I was pleasantly surprised.
ccthemovieman-1
As someone who grew up watching "Leave It To Beaver" on television, and now on DVD, this "upgraded" movie version is disgusting.Out-of-touch movie critics like Porter & Martin, who have a best-selling paperback book each year of short movie reviews of anything on tape or disc, called this "wholesome" fun. In fact, they said it was so wholesome kids of today might not want to see it, meaning it was too goody-goody for them. This shows you how out-of-touch film critics can be because compared to that 1950s show, this is HARDLY a wholesome movie.In this LITB, the young guys are all after girls and sex, use the word "suck" all the time and the story is filled with 1990s-type Hollywood portrayals and comments (Beaver was excited because he saw an R-rated movie, etc.)Overall, it's still a kid's movie and Cameron Finley is "cute" as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver and his parents are nice, but there are too may moral problems with this version. Stick to the TV shows, especially now that the first two seasons on DVD. Those are fantastic.
bmxrountree
I grew up watching this show and I couldn't wait until the movie came out. After I watched it , the video was in my hands.Since it was made from a tv series like The Brady Bunch , it beat them by a long shot.It's worth watching and there's one scene that will tell you something if you pay attention to it. This is when the Beaver and his father are in the coffee cup and they're talking about ' the look '.Eddie Haskell ( Ken Osmond ) appeared to have the right idea on his acting. Being around Ward and June he so polite but if he was with Wally or the Beaver it would be like he knew everything. Everyone else did a good job also. I liked the times whenever Lumpy would be so sloppy and eat anything in sight.The funny thing about this movie is , when he got his bike for his birthday it brings back memories when I got one I kept dreaming about. It's a 20" red Diamond Back , alloy frame , three piece crank & double wall rim ( for all you riders to give you an idea.) That Christmas I thought it was over but sure enough at the last minute here it comes. It was 30* outside but I could care less ! I changed clothes and went for a spin. Since then it's been spotless and this was 4 years ago. I still have it.Again as the movie , there's nothing wrong with it and enjoyable / relaxing for the whole family. There is a true example on this - DON'T let strangers ride your bike no matter what they say. Also lock it up. One time I thought mine was safe and I was gone for only 30 seconds. When I came out , it was gone but I caught them.
Mike-DD
Seems amazing what trouble a little kid can get himself into at times. Quite an interesting watch - the plot revolves around the kid Beaver and the problems he has trying to do the things that will get his father to approve of him and like him more, and his older brother's attempts to woo a girl who likes another. Somehow, these people all manage to entangle themselves into one another's lives and makes for some pretty predictable sequences and scenes. But I like shows with kids as stars, and this is one of the better ones to come from the studios.
