The Wizard (1989)

The Wizard is a 1989 family film, directed by Todd Holland, written by David Chisholm, and starring Fred Savage, Christian Slater, Jenny Lewis, Beau Bridges, and Luke Edwards.

Not to be confused with The Wiz.

Plot
Three children travel to California to participate in a gaming tournament, meeting many interesting people along the way.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The movie has an excessive amount of product placement for Universal Studios and Nintendo products, particularly in the tournament scene.
 * 2) Cliched and predictable plot.
 * 3) Weird writing; the adults all kind of act like children, while the children speak and act a little too much like adults.
 * 4) Cheesy dialogue.
 * 5) The line "He touched my breast!" and its context haven't really aged well.
 * 6) The movie's focus on video games and somewhat saccharine plot meant it had trouble appealing to people who weren't young children.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The movie did appeal successfully to its target audience; many of them now look back on the film with some nostalgia.
 * 2) Despite its childishness, the movies does touch on some serious things (namely, the death of a sibling) pretty well.
 * 3) Some of the lines are quite funny, particularly "I love the Power Glove. It's so bad." and "He touched my  breast!".

Reception
Upon first release, the movie received mostly negative reviews, with the criticism focusing on the excess product placement. Roger Ebert called it "a cynical exploitation film with a lot of commercial plugs" and "insanely overwritten and ineptly filmed".

Over time, however, opinions of the film have warmed, noting the decent acting and nostalgia.

Trivia

 * This was Tobey Maguire's first film appearance, where he appeared as a background character.

Videos
8jUqOxyQyaI gR6LRQHr1hY