SincereFinest
disgusting, overrated, pointless
Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
SnoopyStyle
In NYC, Omri (Hal Scardino) gets a cupboard among other things on his 9th birthday. His friend Patrick gives him a plastic Indian. He puts the Indian in the cupboard and locks it overnight. The next morning, he finds the Indian figure actually alive. The Indian is an Iroquois named Little Bear who was fighting the French for the English in 1761. When Little Bear gets hurt, Omri reanimates WWI British Army medic Tommy Atkins (Steve Coogan) to treat him. Patrick figures out the secret and reanimates cowboy Boone (David Keith). This is a sweet kids movie. It has some fun stuff. Hal is really goofy looking and fits as a gawky kid. There isn't enough drama to interest the adults. This could be a good Twilight Zone episode. As a movie, it doesn't have the excitement or the adventure that this needs.
ma-cortes
On his ninth birthday a young boy (Hal Scardino) named Omri (it means "The Lord is my life" and was the name of a Hebrew king whose story is told in I Kings 16) receives various presents from his parents (Richard Jenkins , Lindsay Crouse) and brothers . Two of them first seem to be less important : an old cupboard -a wooden medicine cabinet - from his brother and a little Indian figure made of plastic . Then there happens the biggest adventure of his childhood , the magical cupboard brings his toy action figures to life and Omri watches him become flesh and blood ; there also appear a soldier (Steve Coogan) from WWII . Three-inch plastic Indian named Little Bear (Lifefoot) undertaking several adventures and teaching him important lessons . Thing go worse , however , when the boy's best friend brings a toy gunfighter (David Keith) to life and pursuit starts . Events turn nasty and might be frightened for young children , by some scenes involving a rather vicious mouse .Enjoyable and well-intentioned film plenty of good feeling , marvelous adventure , fantasy and sense of wonder . This is a nice movie with heart that amuses and has something to tell . The picture is pretty good but suffers of claustrophobic scenario , as it is mostly set in room , exception some brief scenes in courtyard . Intelligent as well as sensitive screenplay by Melissa Matheson , Harrison Ford's real-life first wife , based on the best-selling children's book by Lynne Reid Banks who wrote her original novel as a bedtime story for her son , Omri . Cool special effects , as blue screen techniques allow them to appear together-on-screen although they were really filmed together only once . Emotive as well as evocative musical score by Randy Edelman . Colorful and adequate cinematography by Russell Carpenter . The motion picture well produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall was professionally directed by Frank Oz , though he stated he was reluctant to direct this movie, as he doesn't think he's a children's director. Frank began forming team with the great Jim Henson filming known titles such as ¨The Dark Crystal¨ and ¨Muppets take Manhattan¨. Frank subsequently directed a lot of comedies as ¨Little shop of horrors¨, ¨Dirty rotten scoundrels¨, ¨What about Bob?¨, ¨House sitter¨, ¨In and out¨, ¨Bowfinger¨and a thriller titled ¨The score¨. And this ¨Indian in cupboard¨, it results to be one of his most sensitive films . Rating : 6'5/10 . Better than average . Well worth watching .
capone666
Terrific! First we took their land, then we confined them to reserves, now we've forced Native Americans to live inside of our furniture.Fortunately, this kids' movie is not about constricting a Cree to a credenza – it's about an Iroquois.For his 9th birthday, Omri (Hal Scardino) receives a cupboard and a plastic Indian figurine (Litefoot).When he locks the statuette in the sideboard using a magic key, he opens to find that the toy has come to life.Next, he places a plastic cowboy (David Keith) into the cupboard. And later, he must animate a plastic medic (Steve Coogan); unfortunately, he has lost the key.Based on the beloved children's book, The Indian in the Cupboard may have its faults but at heart it's a compassionate account of growing up.However, wouldn't it be more enlightening for a maturing young man to bring his sister's Bratz dolls to life? (Yellow Light)
mooveejunkie
Even though I rated this plucky movie a 4, it doesn't mean I hate it, my dear friends. I liked it but it doesn't have the stuff to make it to my higher favoritism of movies. Frank Oz is so imaginative (Yoda, Miss Piggy... love them!), but I have to say that this film to me is not so Frank Oz, and movies that are adapted from books are quite impressive, but I can only say I was slightly impressed. For one thing, the cast is inadequate, I never heard of David Keith and Litefoot (David Coogan, however, was in Around the World in 80 Days).This story follows Omri, an extremely childish youngster who, for his birthday, receives a MAGICAL (ooh!) cupboard. The Cupboard lacks its key so Omri's mother (actress Lindsay Crouse, never heard of her), gives him her collection of keys, and guess what…? He finds the certain key on his second try! That part always took me aback. He puts in an antique Iroquois figure in the cupboard, and later in the morning he opens it to find the figure alive as a small Iroquois man. The pair has many tedious adventures, some including an idiotic rat ball and a down-right scruffy cowboy who was a toy figure too (the cupboard MAGICALLY (ooh!) turns plastic (plaz-teck!) things into their real life counterparts, only smaller). The pair soon learns that every boy must become a man (a typical, yet true moral).Omri's character really is childish, yet endearing; his parents seem to pamper him, he's afraid of the dark, and he has lame 90's action figures; but he does mellow out in the end of the movie. I liked the acting, but it was no To Kill a Mocking Bird, even at moving parts. The Iroquois man was different from other Indian movies; he was a guru in a way. The music was just moderate and odd, though with one exception you'll know when you hear it.Be warned, my dear readers, this movie contains slight profanity (embarrassing really); simulative killing and some ladies do a loathsome dance on TV at one point (they call this a kid movie, how embarrassing. Let's hope Omri was sleeping at that adultish scene). And no the kid does not play God (duh, no one can play the Lord Almighty, my foolish friends), its just a story, have fun. Other than the 3 points I pointed out, the movie is plucky and it has a rather moving ending. It's an OKAY movie >: )
