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Reviews
Alley Cats Strike (2000)
Good storyline, keeps your interest
SOME SPOILERS! This movie is about learning to understand--even accept--other peoples' point of view and working together for a common cause regardless of any remaining differences. As the movie progresses different examples of how to do this are shown, such as Alex going to a party by Todd's friends that he wouldn't normally attend, accompanying Todd to get decorations for the bowling hall, and getting a truce between his team members and Todd for the remaining days until the contest. Todd rallies his friends to revive the bowling hall. Alex and his friends learn to have a positive, winning attitude, and Todd learns about style and playing for fun without the pressure to win at all costs, and yielding to a better performer when it counts. One great example that might get overlooked occurs about twenty minutes from the beginning: in the bowling hall Todd mentions the rumour that Alex got his clothes in the alley behind the hall. Instead of getting mad, Alex handles this with humor, poking even more fun at himself, saying he got them from a <catalog> he found in the alley, and Todd's "Whatever..." shows he gets the humor, and the confrontation is defused, rather than escalating. Reality check: it's true that this only works if the accuser accepts the humor, but when it works you can feel the reduction in tension. As Dexter says in "The Cure" (ties for #1 with "On Golden Pond" in my list), "It's worth a try."
Motocrossed (2001)
A family pulling together.
What impressed me the most about this movie was the positive relationship between the family members, the encouragement they give each other, and how they work together for a common goal. It seems perfectly natural, in this day and age, that Andrea should want to race, so the feminist theme, handled humorously at first with the references to "chicks", didn't seem like a war cry. In a different story-line, an undisguised Andrea might act more macho than the male riders as she shows them who's boss, whereas in this story she doesn't act macho even when disguised as Andrew. She is the same person either way. She just wants the playing field level. If there is a lesson here, it is for die-hard feminists as well as male chauvinists.
The Other Me (2000)
Excellent teaching vehicle for 11-13 yr old.
Rarely is a wholesome subject like this handled without being trite or boring. The literary device of the clone is up-to-date and shows that Will is capable of becoming more like Twoie. Of course, Twoie could have had the same effect on Will if he had actually been a cousin visiting from Belgium, but imagine how dull a movie that would be! Although the age group in the story is Jr High, Andy Lawrence is 12 and I think that age group would benefit more from seeing the movie.