Opposite Day

I watched Opposite Day yesterday and it was possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. My wife couldn't believe how awful it was either - we both like kids movies and even a lot of movies that people say are terrible don't seem too bad when we keep in mind that they are for kids. I have enjoyed children's movies starring Pauly Shore, Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrel, Hulk Hogan, and most recently Jackie Chan and Dwayne Johnson. However, Opposite Day was terrible; I'm talking Baby Geniuses 2 terrible.

It seemed as if the writer of Opposite Day didn't know his own plot. Situations presented for supposedly comedic effect were not indicative of the alternate reality that we were supposed to accept. The script was also filled with throwaway dialog that was humorless even for children too young to understand simple jokes.

The director seemed to think the audience was dumb (over explaining concepts that ruin the suspension of belief even in young children). Maybe he was overcompensating for the horrible writing. The shot angles were adequate, but I don't think the director had a plan.

I also think the acting would have been better with a different director - some characters in kids movies must overact to emphasize their emotions for people who may not otherwise understand (very young kids); in Opposite Day there were no subtle characters which causes the effect to be lost on young and old alike. The movie had some good actors; George Wendt, Ariel Winter, etc, but they must have been told how to perform scenes rather than the director letting their abilities carry them.

I'm not trying to over analyze the movie. I am willing to glaze over most faults I find in a movie like this. However, I should have turned this movie off way before it turned me off so entirely. I do not see how anyone can truly enjoy this this movie. It is not so much that it is stupid, it is that the writing doesn't even try to be funny.

At one point a character says "We're going to have so much fun it will be coming out our ears!" and the kids laugh hysterically. I really think that was supposed to be a funny one-liner, but can't tell. This movie lacks humor and tries to rely on sight gags that not only get tiresome from repetition, they are so dumb that a typical child will have his/her intelligence insulted. My 5yo son loves movies, but was bored with this - anyone older than him would not even care enough to make a joke like "This film is great - WAIT - it's Opposite Day!"

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I started watching this film with my son, I mean you never see Pauly Shore and G rated in the same sentence, much less the same movie. The premise might be cheesy for standards of movies being released as of 2020, but the story of Opposite Day is pretty wholesome entertainment for the entire family.

The film had some rather funny moments, and the acting and direction weren't terrible either. Kids will have fun seeing the kids on screen taking control and doing adult jobs, especially the police. Dick Van Patten as the grandfather made the whole movie for me, he's such a family friendly actor and comedian.

Give it a watch, you won't be disappointed and neither will your children.

First off, I'll mention what I said in the message boards. My curiosity when I first heard about this movie was compounded by the lack of availability...and if you have a pass or subscription, such as Blockbuster or Netflix, I would recommend using that for a viewing rather than spending money to purchase it prior to seeing it firsthand.

Now, as to the movie itself: Yes, there are issues with the plot, continuity, and so on, and yes, I also noticed that there may be some creepy incestuous undertones and was laughing when I saw that the other reviewers noticed as well. But, I do think the filmmakers here intended for it to be seen through a child's eyes and hopefully most kids aren't thinking like that if they are in the target audience (probably under 9).

So for me, this was mildly entertaining and it was nice to see Pauly Shore and French Stewart mix things up a bit by acting both mature and immature in the same movie. However, my kids are all under 6 and they seemed to like it quite a bit. So maybe the concept of the movie plays on two levels - the movie itself, and the reception by the viewers. I haven't seen any reviews by the 5-and-under crowd yet, but from the response at home I'd say it was a hit.

I know it may be an odd paradigm of parental philosophy to let your children decide what they do and do not like, but if we don't pay attention to what they think about things, we may be in need of the corny lesson this movie tries to "teach" us anyway.

As I watched this movie, questions similar to the comments others have already posted ran through my head. It was odd to see the brother and sister for example, waking up in the same bed (their parents bed) and the parents in the children's' bunk beds. Other than that, I wouldn't take the movie too seriously, after all it was a comedy (somewhat). Pauly Shore didn't behave as ridiculously as he has in other movies, which was good. He didn't over do the acting as I was expecting, and the same for the children. The children did a great job in my point of view. Children do overact, as in the many children shows on t.v. I wondered though, who's voice sang the songs. My grand daughter and I thought maybe it was Celina Gomez? I could not find any information on that. Does anyone know?

Straight forward, that's what it basically is; children and adults reversing rolls, positions, responsibilities, and so on.

For an young child (4 to 6), it gives clean, happy, funny entertainment. Parents, if you don't like it, suck it up - one of the things about raising kids is being playful, fun, innocent, and getting involved with what they do, why, how - ask if you don't understand, and learn more from, and about your kids. It also gives a kids a view on how unpleasant the adult world is...and yes, my son is almost 4.

As an adult, all I can think, is...well, for the adults out there, I would give this movie of less than 0, if possible, but hey, it's for kids.