Bruce Mallen Movies

A potentially moving story about a Cambodian orphan and his quest to return home is trivialized by overacting and exaggeration in this fantasy tale meant for family fare. Toby (Jonathan Starr) and Liz (Anick) live with their aunt and uncle in bucolic happiness, and one day a Cambodian orphan adopted by the aunt and uncle joins the family. Han (Ky Huot-uk) has a dream of returning home (the murderous Khmer Rouge are not mentioned). So when the youngsters come across the eccentric King of Peru (Mickey Rooney) and his magic locomotive, Han gets the idea of jumping on board and riding it back to Cambodia. The intended poignancy of his wish is unfortunately lost among the weak story, cutesy children, and a caricatured interpretation by Mickey Rooney. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Margot Kidder and Annie Potts star in this distaff buddy picture concerning two friends undergoing a series of misadventures in their love lives. Potts plays Bonnie Howard, the wife of Stanley (Robert Carradine), an immature child/man who irresponsibly spends most of his time racing cars and getting drunk. Bonnie also happens to be pregnant, but the father of her unborn child does not happen to be Stanley. Rather than hit Stanley in the face with that fact, she decides to leave him. As she heads for town to obtain an abortion, she runs into the foul-mouthed man-hunter Rita Harris (Margot Kidder in a blonde wig and tight pants). The two characters get involved in a number of vignettes, with the humor arising from the contrast between the streetwise Rita and the relatively innocent Bonnie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide