Bogus (1996)
As wonderfully talented as Haley Joel Osment is, I can only enjoy his performances 95% of the way. There’s always a nagging thought in my mind, wondering what his parents were thinking letting their little boy act in such upsetting movies. The Sixth Sense, A.I., Pay It Forward--was fame really worth putting him through all that? In Bogus, he plays a little boy whose mother dies, and to cope in his new surroundings, he finds comfort in an imaginary friend.
Whoopi Goldberg gives a wonderful performance as an unexpectant mother. She’s single and struggling to make a career for herself, and out of the blue she gets a phone call from a stranger telling her her foster sister has died. She hasn’t seen her in years, but Whoopi was named her son’s guardian in her friend’s will. You can see the wheels turning in her head and all her conflicting emotions flitting across her face before she agrees to her new life, and it’s a great scene.
Gérard Depardieu plays Haley’s imaginary friend, and he’s just delightful. He’s had so many different phases in his career, and I absolutely love him in the 1990s when he shows all his tenderness and gentleness he wasn’t able to show in the first decade of his career. In every scene, I kept wishing he was real and could be my friend.
There is a fair amount of cutesy humor to the movie, even though it’s a dramatic premise. Haley does magic tricks, plays with Gérard’s nose, and Whoopi hauls around a fake fire hydrant in her car so she can always reserve a parking spot. Yes, you’ll get to see Haley fall asleep in Gérard’s arms, and Whoopi and Gérard ballroom dance together, but keep in mind this is primarily a sad movie. Bring your Kleenexes.
DLM warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. During the ballroom dance scene, the camera swirls in an upside down circle three times, and it will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Gérard Depardieu movies here!
Whoopi Goldberg gives a wonderful performance as an unexpectant mother. She’s single and struggling to make a career for herself, and out of the blue she gets a phone call from a stranger telling her her foster sister has died. She hasn’t seen her in years, but Whoopi was named her son’s guardian in her friend’s will. You can see the wheels turning in her head and all her conflicting emotions flitting across her face before she agrees to her new life, and it’s a great scene.
Gérard Depardieu plays Haley’s imaginary friend, and he’s just delightful. He’s had so many different phases in his career, and I absolutely love him in the 1990s when he shows all his tenderness and gentleness he wasn’t able to show in the first decade of his career. In every scene, I kept wishing he was real and could be my friend.
There is a fair amount of cutesy humor to the movie, even though it’s a dramatic premise. Haley does magic tricks, plays with Gérard’s nose, and Whoopi hauls around a fake fire hydrant in her car so she can always reserve a parking spot. Yes, you’ll get to see Haley fall asleep in Gérard’s arms, and Whoopi and Gérard ballroom dance together, but keep in mind this is primarily a sad movie. Bring your Kleenexes.
DLM warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. During the ballroom dance scene, the camera swirls in an upside down circle three times, and it will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Gérard Depardieu movies here!