Doing for orphaned children what Ghost did for grieving lovers, Bogus is a sweet-natured fantasy that's sure to have some viewers reaching for a Kleenex. With The Sixth Sense still three years in his future, Haley Joel Osment plays 7-year-old Albert, whose happy life is disrupted when his mother (Nancy Travis) is killed in a traffic accident. Her will stipulates that Albert be placed in the custody of his mom's little-known half-sister, Harriet (Whoopi Goldberg), a New Jersey restaurant-supply owner who's anything but motherly. That's when Albert invents Bogus (Gerard Depardieu), an imaginary friend who springs to life from a coloring book drawing--clearly the product of Albert's need for love and companionship. It's easy to see why director Norman Jewison was drawn to the challenge of this delicate, charmingly cast fantasy/drama whimsically written by Alvin Sargent (Oscar®-winner for Ordinary People), and there are some lovely moments that capture a fleeting sense of wonder. But like the similar fantasy Three Wishes, the magic is lightweight and it doesn't always work. Your best bet is to just surrender to the sentiment, and don't be surprised if you shed a tear or two.
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greenheart31 January 2007Let's talk child actors. There have been many over the last century, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple are possibly the best known and most successful. Others like McCauley Culkin were in the right place at the right time and couldn't make the transition to adult movies. I put Haley Joel Osment right up near the top of the tree. He went on to be brilliant in Sixth sense & extremely good in A.I. He is also the best thing about this movie. He has a wonderful ability to act with his eyes, this makes his performances so much more credible. This movie has some humorous moments, but is actually rather sad & full of people searching but not finding their goal. Whoopi Goldberg didn't really add a dimension to performances we've seen dozens of times from her and Gerard Depardieu was OK but unspectacular. There's definitely a message in this movie and the whole topic of imaginary friends is a fascinating topic to explore. I'm not sure that this movie managed to hit the mark, mainly due to the disruptive and slightly confusing on occasions use of flashbacks & fantasy.
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capone6661 August 2018Bogus
Imaginary friends are good to have around until you need to move furniture across town.
Thankfully, the orphan in this fantasy doesn't have much in the way of physical baggage to relocate.
After a car crash claims his mother, 7-year-old Albert (Haley Joel Osment) is shipped from Las Vegas to New Jersey to live with his new guardian Harriet (Whoopi Goldberg).
To stay amused while he gets accustomed to his new surroundings, Albert dreams up a lively French performer, Bogus (Gérard Depardieu), to deliver the Vegas-style entertainment he enjoyed with his mother. But things get interesting when Bogus becomes real.
While this 1996 family feature tries to tackle childhood grief, its schmaltzy script and asinine acting gets in the way. In fact, Bogus becomes more of an annoyance than an emotional aide pretty fast.
Besides, every French performer - imaginary or not - drinks way too much wine to be around children. Red Light
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katekingswood12 July 2001"Bogus" is a touching and heart warming example of Albert Einsteins famous quote: "Reality is our worst enemy and imagination is our best friend."
A seven year old boy Albert (Haley Joel Osment), has a very happy life,living in Las Vegas with his circus entertainer mother,Lorraine (Nancy Travis).
This almost perfect life is tragically torn away from Albert when Lorraine is killed in car crash. After squabbling over who Albert should stay with,Lorraine's colleagues find that in her will,Lorraine had stated that she wished for Albert to be put in the care of her foster sister Harriet Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg).
When Harriet learns of this, she is not to happy. She has always lived alone and doesn't like the idea of being suddenly responsible for this little boy. But Harriet realizes that it's what Lorraine wanted and through thick and thin, Lorraine was always there for her.
So Albert goes to live with Harriet in the less glamorous city of Newark, New Jersey.
But he has not come alone!!
With him,Albert has bought a friend. A gentle giant called Bogus (Gerard Depardieu) who has been his only friend since the death of his mother.
Bogus is out to bring Harriet and Albert together as a family and to remind Harriet that imagination brings happiness.
Whoopi, Gerard and Haley make a fantastic team and are perfectly cast in this beautiful movie! 10 out of 10!! -
BadWebDiver3 March 2002This film is my candidate for the most exact title of a movie (and will continue to be so until someone makes a film called "This is a Total Turkey"!)
The absolute low-point comes at the funeral scene, where the kid throws a tantrum because everyone's crying at his mother's death (?!), so he runs off into the countryside, stops in the middle of a field and looks up weirdly into the sky. It's so nauseating it'll turn even the strongest stomach.
A bogus movie? Definitely! In fact, to borrow the quote from most critical reviews of The Stupids, "Well at least they can't be accused of false advertising!" -
lbelnc31 July 2002It is extremely rare that I stop on any movie while channel-surfing. This one caught my eye because of Haley Joel Osmont...this kid was amazing even at five years old! And of course Whoopi is great as always. I even liked Gerard in this one...he generally just rubs me the wrong way in his other movies for some reason. He was perfectly cast as Mr. Bogus.
This movie will be magical for those who remember (or who need to remember) those imaginary friends which got us through various growing pains. It is sweet, light-hearted, and rates 10 out of 10 on the "warm-fuzzy" factor. Even my husband thought it was cute, and he's not normally into these kind of movies. Loved it! -
SnoopyStyle22 December 2019Vegas showgirl Lorraine Franklin (Nancy Travis) is killed in a car crash leaving her son Albert (Haley Joel Osment) alone in the world. Her foster sister Harriet Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg) in New Jersey reluctantly accepts the responsibility. The imaginative child creates an imaginary French magician friend named Bogus (Gérard Depardieu).
This is pre-Sixth Sense Haley. Norman Jewison is the director. He's trying marry the childish whimsy of an imaginary character with the dark tragedy of a mother's death and pour a healthy serving of sentimentality over the whole dish. Harriet's personal problem is also problematic. In a way, she's trying to make the story about her when it needs to be a story about the boy. There is an awkward clash of tones in this movie. She's a weirder character. Albert is a brat and Harriet is too angry. Neither are that appealing. The humor is lost in this odd tasting stew. The clash of tones do not work. -
KFL25 April 1999Quite a good movie, describing the case of a traumatized child who makes up a "secret friend" to help him survive in an unfriendly world. Having his foster godmother Harriet Franklin start to see and hear Bogus, the invisible friend, is harder to accept...despite the fact that she too was once a small child with (presumably) a similar burden.
Placed next to all the cliff-hanger world-threatening scenarios of many blockbuster movies, the story of a small child's trying to come to grips with his mother's death may seem somewhat trivial. But unlike those other flicks, it has the redeeming feature of being true to life. Despite the make-believe title character, the story itself is very down-to-earth (with only the exception noted above). -
Snowgo18 August 2014I found this film abusive and mean. A violent death of a character (Nancy Travis') after a repoire has been established with her and the audience is not the way to start a film. For the sake of discretion and to eliminate cheap sensationalism, the film should have begun after the child's (Albert's) mother had already died. Then, he should have been surrounded by supportive adults who truly try to understand and nourish his spirit. Instead, we literally get a bunch of clowns.
I rooted for Albert when he ran from the funeral proceedings to regard the symbolism of the dove, aloft and soaring. I rooted for him, also, when he was being led to the plane to Newark (sic) and refused to even look back, let alone wave, to his cheering, selfish, betraying acquaintances.
Having come from a foster family, herself, Whoopi Goldberg's character (Harriet Franklin) should have been much more empathetic, and even eager, to share some of the success, knowledge and wisdom that she had acquired in life from her childhood situation, saving the child from years, possibly, of state sponsorship and additional trauma.
Instead, hers is a single-dimensional character that could have been played by anyone. Her disregard and terrorizing of the traumatized child at the airport is inexcuseable. The lines written for Depardieu are formulaic and uninspiring. His appearance, role and goals in Albert's life are not explained, even a little bit. The people we care for most in Bogus are the ones who are most maligned and abused; Albert and his mother. The selfish, callous robots in the film are given free reign. The fact that Albert is dominated, neglected and abused in the film speaks a great deal about the heart of the screenwriters (Jeff Rothberg and Francis X. McCarthy) and their opinion of children. The racist behavior by Harriet while on the phone with the lawyer should have been scrapped. The bathroom scene with Albert and Depardieu was too risqué and should have been eliminated.
The movie needed to be re-written by someone with heart, intelligence, depth and writing skill. Whoopi Goldberg is fully, maybe even eminently, capable of playing a part of great depth, wisdom, courage and love, yet they made her just another "businessperson clone".
Gepardieu should have been a real character (perhaps, co-incidentally, a wise-street magician) that Albert and Harriet meet in the park in Newark, becoming a mentor to Albert and deep, close friend to Harriet. This would have made this a truly enchanting and valuable movie.
With these allies, the pain of Albert's loss could have been superseded, and his creativity, bravery and self-esteem given loft and wings, like the dove at his mother's grave. -
Davidon8021 March 2006Gerald Depardieu at his most average is better than many other actors at their very best. Well this isn't necessarily true. However as an actor, Depardieu has attempted everything, not all of them good but what he always manages to convey on the screen is a presence that is strong and full of conviction, no matter what the circumstances, as a viewer this is hard to fault. In the movie Bogus we see one of these performances. What we should also mention is fine support from Whoopi Goldberg and a sublime Haley Joel Osment.
Bogus is an interesting, well acted and well crafted, fantasy piece, it is a story about the mind of a child and how this can cross over into a real/adult world.
This is a movie that could have easily missed it's intended mark with lesser actors, and a less experienced director. But through imagination, depth of characters and a special bond between the three actors, this movie succeeds. -
lisafordeay31 January 2021Bogus is a 1996 fantasy drama starring Haley Joel Osmont,Gerard DiPearau and Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by Norman Jewison the story is about a young boy named Albert who's mother sadly passed away in a car crash and is left to be reared by his mother's adopted sister played by Whoopi Goldberg. However when Albert creates an imaginary friend named Bogus (Gerard) things get kinda strange.
Overall it's a very silly film with a silly premise. -
Dacies1927 December 1998This Movie really changed me A lot; it showed me that Imagination is Very important, and doesn't let anyone tell you different! I know a lot of you did not really care for this movie, but if you go back, and look from you Child's point of view, you might just see what I did. A very fun and loving movie that made me fell really good about myself! Whoopie dose an excellent job playing a new mother, she is a great mother in real life so I know this was hard for her. And Bogus could not have been cast better! I love this movie and can not wait to own it, (when I have money 8 ) )
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There have been critics that dismiss Bogus as overly-sentimental cods wallop, but after seeing it for myself I actually disagree. While sometimes univolving in terms of story, this fantasy film about a young lonely orphaned boy befriending a seemingly-imaginary man never fails to be pleasant and charming. It is beautifully filmed, with lush cinematography and lovely scenery. And I liked the music as well. The direction is pretty solid, and there are some very poignant moments. The performances are not at all bad, Haley Joel Osment undoubtedly gives the strongest one of the lot, while looking extremely cute he does convince in the delivery of his lines and in his face. Gerard Depardieu gives a very pleasant and whimsical characterisation as the imaginary friend, however if his character was perhaps more complex he would've been more memorable. Whoopi Goldberg gives her usual standard of performance, a woman with attitude, yet with a soft side to her, and that is exactly what her character Harriet is like. However, the film while nicely performed and meaning well, is weighed down by an uninvolving story and a sometimes weak script. And there are some problems with the pace, I found the middle half rather slow for my liking. All in all, undemanding but pleasant and charming, and in some ways misunderstood too. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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anaconda-4065815 September 2015Bogus (1996): Dir: Norman Jewison / Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Gerard Depardieu, Haley Joel Osment, Nancy Travis, Andrea Martin: Imaginary friends are common at a young age but the title of this film doesn't do it justice. Albert lost his mother in an accident and is left in the care of Whoopi Goldberg who claims to have no time for children. Soon Gerard Depardieu appears in the form of Bogus. He is fun and listens to him. This bewilders Goldberg who questions the boy's behavior after strange occurrences. Bogus is obviously there to unite the two. Not so much about imaginary friends as it is about recovering from loss but for something advertised as a comedy it plainly isn't very funny. Director Norman Jewison used these elements before in Moonstruck and Only You with fine visual elements. Goldberg holds her own in the role of caregiver unable or unwilling to participate but as formulas go she will let down her guard. As Bogus Depardieu proves to have great comic energy despite a role unworthy of his talent. Haley Joel Osment as Albert is the best casting, coping with loss using imagination and adapting to Goldberg. Nancy Travis plays his mother with an interesting back story but untimely death. While the visual elements are okay, perhaps parents should view it before making it a family night deal. Strong theme of childhood healing within a totally bogus screenplay. Score: 5 ½ / 10
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MEEdmo4218 January 2003After reading the many comments and watching the movie several times, I think I realize why Albert's friend was French. The people he was closest to in his former life were the French magician and his wife/partner. Therefore it made sense that his imaginary friend was like them. I loved the movie and though Harriet seemed to change suddenly in some people's opinion, I think she was changing throughout the movie. The looks she gave and the thoughts that seemed to be going through her mind, were very evident of that fact. Gérard Depardieu was excellent in the part of Bogus, the evidence between him being so big and the boy so small. How many times have we as adults wished for someone big and strong to take us up and give us comfort? I loved the ending where he wandered away to help another child. Sometimes in my life, I wish for someone like him. He also has a lovely smile. Good movie for that time when you are wanting something different.
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neil-47612 July 2009I had never heard of this bizarre film before it turned up on TV last night.
When I say bizarre, this isn't because of the story, which is interesting and unusual, nor because of the performances which are mostly fine: Osment, as a very young boy, is as good as he subsequently proved himself to be, Depardieu has a lot of fun, and the supports are all fine. Only Whoopi Goldberg finds herself at the disadvantage of a character which requires her to be singlemindedly unsympathetic until a sudden (and, frankly, unconvincing) epiphany near the end).
The casting leans towards the bizarre, the point where Goldberg starts to be able to see Osment's imaginary friend is implausible enough to up the bizarreness quotient noticeably, and the full-on Fred and Ginger dance routine delivered by Goldberg and Depardieu, while very nearly worth the admission price in its own right, is (let's be honest here) full-throttle bizarreness made flesh.
An interesting experiment - not wholly successful, but with enough good points to make it worth a watch. -
richieandsam24 November 2012I quite liked it... I had never seen anything about this movie before it came on TV. I just read that it had Whoopi Goldberg in it, and I am a fan of hers.
The movie is about a little boy, named Albert who loses his mother in a car wreck. He has to go and live with his mothers foster sister (played by Whoopi) who knows absolutely nothing about children. So the kid gets an imaginary friend.
The film is sad in places... i felt sorry for Albert. Haley Joel Osment played Albert... his work was not very convincing in parts of the movie. But then it is so hard to find a good child actor. I think I can name only 2 really great child actors. (Maisie Williams & Dakota Fanning)
Whoopi Goldberg is a brilliant actress and she does another great job in this. I think she is one of the best actresses in America. I loved her in the Sister Act movies, Ghost, Made in America and Burglar... but my favourite film of hers is Jumpin' Jack Flash. Her character is a career driven person who does not have the time for kids. Whoopi was convincing and I felt sorry for her through the movie because she really was thrown in the deep end really by having this boy dumped in her lap.
Gerard Depardieu plays the imaginary friend named Bogus. He also did a good job. He was funny in places and really believable that he cares.
I don't really have anything bad to say about this movie, except maybe Haley wasn't very good at certain points.
The story was good. It made me smile and made me feel sad in places.
A good movie... I will give this 7 out of 10. I hope to see Whoopi back in a blockbuster where she belongs very soon.
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pmtelefon6 July 2019"Bogus" is a well told story. There were more than a few beautifully played scenes. The three leads all give terrific performances. My only negative is not a game changer by any means. I wasn't a fan of the dream sequences. Most of them didn't work that well. They went on a little too and sometimes seemed unnecessary. A minor complaint. Otherwise, "Bogus" really touched me. I regret not seeing this movie years ago.
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In his graceful overgrown sheepdog sort of way Gerard Depardieu good - naturedly has this movie in his hip pocket.He grins wryly,shrugs in the Gallic manner and mugs his way happily through what could have been a syruppy saccharine part as Albert's imaginary friend come to life to help him deal with the death of his beloved circus performer mother. Farmed out to Whoopi Goldberg - a reluctant stepmother if there ever was one - Albert (young Master Osment) is a rebel without a pause until Bogus shows him the common ground he and Miss Goldberg can inhabit. I would normally walk a mile over broken glass in my bare feet to avoid movies about cute kids and their imaginary pals,but "Bogus" never quite takes itself seriously.Just when you fear it might turn into a blubfest there is a change of mood and we're off to the races,as it were,with Gerard and Whoopi in the saddle. The soundtrack is marvellous,Depardieu and La Goldberg have a lot of fun with some energetic dance routines and the movie is an all-round happy experience.A wonderful alternative to watching the FTSE and Dow Jones drop to an all - time low whilst waiting in vain for the first banker to jump out of a window.
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mark.waltz2 December 2021There is something about Whoopi Goldberg's film career that cannot be overlooked. Even in the worst of her movies, you couldn't help but like her. This film focuses on that kid who could see dead people, Haley Joel Osment, who has a make-believe friend, a magician named Bogus who all of a sudden appears to Goldberg who has taken in Osmond after his mother, Nancy Travis, is killed in a horrible car accident. Whoopi had been taken in as a foster child into Travis's home, and in a touching flashback, she remembers how kind Travis as a young girl was to her.
When Goldberg arrives at the airport to pick Osment up, she is in total awe of his cuteness but it will take a while for them to bond because Osment only ones his mother back and his friend Bogus who had all of a sudden become visible to him on the plane. Goldberg has her hands full, not only with her business but with dealing with this addition to her household, and the always wonderful Andrea Martin is terrific as Goldberg's assistant, reminding me of Dianne Wiest in "The Associate".
I was surprised that Goldberg got worst actress nominations for this film as she is far from horrible. If anything, she always plays a variation of herself because she is not one to change her appearance on screen, and her glowing personality shines through in all of these movies, even the most hideous ones. Her chemistry with her co-stars is off the charts, and her acting always makes you see into her heart and soul. Osment is a complete charmer, funny and real and touching. Sheryl Lee Ralph of the original "Dreamgirls" on Broadway has a very nice supporting role as Travis's best friend in the opening scenes. This is one of those magical films that if you open your heart to it will enter it and warm every other part of your body. -
lovable_always10 August 2003I can't believe there are bunch of people saying this movie is not really good. I thought it was original and its casual self. It didn't need to be changed in any way. It was funny, bright, happy, and a crowd-pleaser. It can make anyone smile and there was never a chance I would say this movie is bad. It has imagination, reality, and everything mixed in. The ingredients are good and well done the actors were really good and had a sense-of-humnor. You can tell nobody forced them to be like that and you can actually see they are their own self. Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost) does a good preformance and Haley Joel Osment, future Oscar nominee (The Sixth Sense) was also really good. And whoever played Bogus, Gerand .... was also really good and I find him funny and would like to know more about him cause he's got talent and I bet he knows it! I like this movie and this is actually a very fresh and funny film for family movie night and it's a very good selection. When you go to Blockbusters someday, try to look for Bogus!
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katherine-116 August 2002Bogus is one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. I know that a lot of people didn't like the film, but I have seen hundreds of movies and have not found one that made me cry like Bogus did. After seeing Dancer in the Dark I thought that no movie could ever strike me as being sad, but this one did. Although this might not have been Gerard Depardieu's best performance or Goldberg's, the film is unique. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes any of the actors or just wants to see an interesting movie.
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Psyche-813 April 2001What a sweet movie! It makes you wish that you were a kid again. I would gladly be seven years old once more if it meant welcoming Bogus in the form of Gerard Depardieu into my life! He was fantastic. The relationship he has with the little boy is touching without being overly sentimental, and he gives the boy exactly what he is looking for - warmth and friendship and is everything a friend (imaginary or otherwise) should be. It brought tears to my eyes one minute and made me giggle the next!
In my opinion, this film is equally entertaining for adults as well as young children, since it reminds us adults that imagination is such an important part of our lives! This film is perhaps reminiscent of "Drop Dead Fred" which sees a grown woman being comforted by her childhood imaginary friend in a time of crisis. But this movie is far, far better done if you ask me.
So for all you hardened adults out there, lighten up! This movie will help you to embrace the child within! -
UniqueParticle11 October 2018One of the sweetest, most genuine films ever about little Albert/Haley Joel Osment having his own experiences with an imaginary friend after his mom passes away he has to move in with Whoopi Goldberg in New York City. I've always loved this movie any time I see it, it's cute, warm, makes you feel like you can be independent like Albert in the movie & he's smart with a few stories, knows magic and is adorable. I wish more movies were like this; it's a truly magnificent, adventurous & rare gem or maybe I'm just a oddball -- I'm a sucker for a great story like this.
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vchimpanzee24 August 2003As the movie opens, we see a woman floating in the air surrounded by fog. It's not just a fantasy. It's a performance by magician Antoine in Las Vegas. Lorraine, one of the performers, has a 7-year-old son named Albert who wants to be a magician. The boy's father must have been a magician, someone says, because he disappeared.
After Lorraine dies tragically, there is no family to take care of him. Lorraine's co-workers think of Albert as family, but they travel too much (wonder why Lorraine didn't, or if she did). It is determined that Lorraine wanted Harriet Franklin to have Albert if anything happened. A flashback shows how Harriet, a little black girl, arrived at the foster home where Lorraine already lived. The two became friends, although this is not shown. When Harriet, the owner of a restaurant supply business, is contacted, she gets upset. No, she doesn't want a child! (The usual reaction from a Whoopi Goldberg character) But Harriet remembers how good a friend Lorraine was and reluctantly agrees to take Albert.
Harriet lives in Newark (the only thing good about Newark is that it is close to Atlantic City, where Albert's friends will soon perform), so Albert must take a plane ride. On the plane, Albert is given a coloring book, and one of the characters in the coloring book comes to life. He is a French man who calls himself Bogus who only Albert can see or hear. Throughout the movie, people wonder who Albert is talking to. But it seems Bogus is his only friend. Harriet doesn't want him, and he doesn't bond with the other children. An example: in one scene, a magician is performing at a child's birthday party, and Albert knows how the trick was done, but when another child is scared, Albert doesn't reassure her. He just wonders silently how kids could be so dumb.
Albert doesn't try very hard to be happy with his situation, while Harriet goes out of her way to help the boy and doesn't seem to be getting any reward. Just lots of parking tickets.
Even though Bogus is from a fantasy world, he tries to give Albert practical advice. He knows Albert needs to face his problems and get on with life, but he still wants to have fun with the boy. There are a couple of enjoyable scenes with Bogus and Albert together, one with Jack Sheldon of 'Schoolhouse Rock' fame singing 'Me and My Shadow' as the two friends explore Newark. In another scene, an ice cream parlor magically appears in a warehouse. Harriet and her business associate Bob can't see the ice cream, though Bob pretends to. (Is something going on with those two other than business?)
Whoopi Goldberg gives her usual performance. She has an attitude but tries to be civil to the boy and eventually shows signs of coming around. Gerard Depardieu is wonderful as Bogus. And while this is no 'Sixth Sense', Haley Joel Osment is still one of the best possible actors to play his role. It's a shame he will have to grow up.
This is a formula movie, but I like the formula.
Possible Spoiler:
Eventually, Harriet does see and hear Bogus, and she even dances with him to big band and polka music, with both wearing fancy costumes that come out of nowhere.