I normally don't like to compare a movie with the book it is based on (because a book is a book, and a movie a movie, simple as that), but in this case I have to make an exception. "Pünktchen und Anton" by Erich Kästner was a exceptionally progressive book when it came out, because it took children seriously, and unlike many other books of that time it didn't moralize or belittle them -- Kästner essentially wrote literature for children. Unfortunately, the movie is rather conventional in an end - of - 20.th - century way, in that it suckers up to the children and idealizes them. The result is an enjoyable, but rather conventional and very much unbrilliant movie, though I have to admit that my nephews enjoyed watching it (then again, they are young and haven't had the chance to develop a cinematic taste yet).
What spoilt it for me was that I frequently had the impression that the film makers had tried less hard than they would have with an adult movie, simply because they felt that the standards for a children's movie are by definition lower.
What spoilt it for me was that I frequently had the impression that the film makers had tried less hard than they would have with an adult movie, simply because they felt that the standards for a children's movie are by definition lower.