"Leave It to Beaver" is based on a TV show from the 1950s about a nine-year-old runt called Beaver and his family. The Cleaver Family paints a portrait of the Quintessential American Family consisting of Ward (Michael McDonald) and June (Janine Turner) and their two sons, Beaver (Cameron Finley) and Wally (Erik von Detten.) I'm not sure if Beaver was as dimwitted in the show because I've never seen It, but he is pretty stupid here. Wally is the teenage heartthrob who finds out the hard way about rejection. Eddie Haskell (Adam Aolotin) is the conniving abject moron who is friends with Wally, constantly acts like a self-centred jackass and comes off as a creep. Instead of telling a fun story about Beaver's misadventures, his new bicycle is used as a loose plot device, and they stretch it out over 88 mins, running paper thin.
It opens with Beaver firing newspapers off the back of Wally's bike. In true sitcom fashion, he hurls a newspaper at the idiot next door, two people standing outside their house. A satellite guy on a roof, and they cause a truck driver to get covered in pies. Beaver gets the bright idea to join the football team, only to appease his dad. He visualizes himself being the star on the team when he is the smallest kid, on the team. His father has a stupid habit of bringing up that he played a lot of "Sandlot," in his day. I assume this is a 1950s reference.
Beaver sees a red sparkly bike in a window, and Haskell arrogantly explains to him how to suck up to his parents since his birthday is coming up, and they get him the bike. It gets stolen right in front of him because he is too stupid to know the difference, and Beaver lies, trying to hide the theft from his dad. It doesn't last very long because Ward finds out in the next scene at the dinner table and gives him the gear about responsibility. "Ward, I think you're being a little hard on the Beaver." Michael McDonald is the only salvageable role because he does try his best, but being at the mercy of the material and a lazy script gives him nothing more than being a typical suburban parent.
Eddie Haskell is awkward to watch because he is such a clown. He acts like a wannabe suave playboy, torments Beaver and tries to make the dimwit think he knows everything about girls. In one scene, he tells Wally how Karen (Erika Christensen,) the local girl, will be his. He stunts his way through the door of a soda shop, and as soon as she sees him, she tells him, "Take another step, and I'll file a restraining order." Haskell gets made to look foolish, rightfully so, and she sets her sights on Wally.
Most of the plot revolves around Beaver trying to get his wheels back from two losers. One wears a bandana, looks like Axel Rose, and they both have the intelligence of a wrench. They feel out of place for a family-friendly movie. Wally is another subplot where he tries to romance Karen only to less than stellar results. They give Wally nothing to do but gush over a girl who turns out to be hostel. She takes Wally for a fool and is an excuse for him to feel heartbroken, which feels human for a suburban kid in a sort of coming-of-age way, but Karen is a horrid character with no soul to her, and it feels mean-spirited. The kid she throws Wally away for is the brother of the kid who stole Beaver's bicycle.
The bike thief appears sporadically throughout the movie, and I wondered why Ward never tries to get it back from a teenage wannabe hoodlum. It would; 've given the movie a purpose with Ward teaching his son something. Why does Beaver constantly run into him only to chase him? It's because Director Andy Cadiff reminds us that the Bicycle only appears as an excuse to further a useless plot while exploiting stupidity, along with dumb scenes with braindead characters and horrid dialogue from Beaver, Haskell, Wally, and Karen.
"Leave It to Beaver" has the charm of a family-friendly comedy but isn't childproof. Beaver acts foolish throughout the movie, and none of it is funny. There are no attempted laughs, and I don't see any kids laughing at this either. Abject scenes induce nausea when Beaver sneaks out at night only to lie to his father about his grades. The movie is another pointless sitcom that nobody asked for, and it translates to nothing because every idea goes to the dirt. It could've been a better movie with a story and a different cast and plot that doesn't drag, but that seemed too hard of a task in favour of a little misfit falling into stupid scenes that make him look dumb.
3/10.
It opens with Beaver firing newspapers off the back of Wally's bike. In true sitcom fashion, he hurls a newspaper at the idiot next door, two people standing outside their house. A satellite guy on a roof, and they cause a truck driver to get covered in pies. Beaver gets the bright idea to join the football team, only to appease his dad. He visualizes himself being the star on the team when he is the smallest kid, on the team. His father has a stupid habit of bringing up that he played a lot of "Sandlot," in his day. I assume this is a 1950s reference.
Beaver sees a red sparkly bike in a window, and Haskell arrogantly explains to him how to suck up to his parents since his birthday is coming up, and they get him the bike. It gets stolen right in front of him because he is too stupid to know the difference, and Beaver lies, trying to hide the theft from his dad. It doesn't last very long because Ward finds out in the next scene at the dinner table and gives him the gear about responsibility. "Ward, I think you're being a little hard on the Beaver." Michael McDonald is the only salvageable role because he does try his best, but being at the mercy of the material and a lazy script gives him nothing more than being a typical suburban parent.
Eddie Haskell is awkward to watch because he is such a clown. He acts like a wannabe suave playboy, torments Beaver and tries to make the dimwit think he knows everything about girls. In one scene, he tells Wally how Karen (Erika Christensen,) the local girl, will be his. He stunts his way through the door of a soda shop, and as soon as she sees him, she tells him, "Take another step, and I'll file a restraining order." Haskell gets made to look foolish, rightfully so, and she sets her sights on Wally.
Most of the plot revolves around Beaver trying to get his wheels back from two losers. One wears a bandana, looks like Axel Rose, and they both have the intelligence of a wrench. They feel out of place for a family-friendly movie. Wally is another subplot where he tries to romance Karen only to less than stellar results. They give Wally nothing to do but gush over a girl who turns out to be hostel. She takes Wally for a fool and is an excuse for him to feel heartbroken, which feels human for a suburban kid in a sort of coming-of-age way, but Karen is a horrid character with no soul to her, and it feels mean-spirited. The kid she throws Wally away for is the brother of the kid who stole Beaver's bicycle.
The bike thief appears sporadically throughout the movie, and I wondered why Ward never tries to get it back from a teenage wannabe hoodlum. It would; 've given the movie a purpose with Ward teaching his son something. Why does Beaver constantly run into him only to chase him? It's because Director Andy Cadiff reminds us that the Bicycle only appears as an excuse to further a useless plot while exploiting stupidity, along with dumb scenes with braindead characters and horrid dialogue from Beaver, Haskell, Wally, and Karen.
"Leave It to Beaver" has the charm of a family-friendly comedy but isn't childproof. Beaver acts foolish throughout the movie, and none of it is funny. There are no attempted laughs, and I don't see any kids laughing at this either. Abject scenes induce nausea when Beaver sneaks out at night only to lie to his father about his grades. The movie is another pointless sitcom that nobody asked for, and it translates to nothing because every idea goes to the dirt. It could've been a better movie with a story and a different cast and plot that doesn't drag, but that seemed too hard of a task in favour of a little misfit falling into stupid scenes that make him look dumb.
3/10.