BogusImaginary friends are good to have around until you need to move furniture across town.Thankfully, the orphan in this fantasy doesn't have much in the way of physical baggage to relocate.After a car crash claims his mother, 7-year-old Albert (Haley Joel Osment) is shipped from Las Vegas to New Jersey to live with his new guardian Harriet (Whoopi Goldberg).To stay amused while he gets accustomed to his new surroundings, Albert dreams up a lively French performer, Bogus (Gérard Depardieu), to deliver the Vegas-style entertainment he enjoyed with his mother. But things get interesting when Bogus becomes real.While this 1996 family feature tries to tackle childhood grief, its schmaltzy script and asinine acting gets in the way. In fact, Bogus becomes more of an annoyance than an emotional aide pretty fast. Besides, every French performer - imaginary or not - drinks way too much wine to be around children. Red Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Bogus (1996): Dir: Norman Jewison / Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Gerard Depardieu, Haley Joel Osment, Nancy Travis, Andrea Martin: Imaginary friends are common at a young age but the title of this film doesn't do it justice. Albert lost his mother in an accident and is left in the care of Whoopi Goldberg who claims to have no time for children. Soon Gerard Depardieu appears in the form of Bogus. He is fun and listens to him. This bewilders Goldberg who questions the boy's behavior after strange occurrences. Bogus is obviously there to unite the two. Not so much about imaginary friends as it is about recovering from loss but for something advertised as a comedy it plainly isn't very funny. Director Norman Jewison used these elements before in Moonstruck and Only You with fine visual elements. Goldberg holds her own in the role of caregiver unable or unwilling to participate but as formulas go she will let down her guard. As Bogus Depardieu proves to have great comic energy despite a role unworthy of his talent. Haley Joel Osment as Albert is the best casting, coping with loss using imagination and adapting to Goldberg. Nancy Travis plays his mother with an interesting back story but untimely death. While the visual elements are okay, perhaps parents should view it before making it a family night deal. Strong theme of childhood healing within a totally bogus screenplay. Score: 5 ½ / 10

I had never heard of this bizarre film before it turned up on TV last night.When I say bizarre, this isn't because of the story, which is interesting and unusual, nor because of the performances which are mostly fine: Osment, as a very young boy, is as good as he subsequently proved himself to be, Depardieu has a lot of fun, and the supports are all fine. Only Whoopi Goldberg finds herself at the disadvantage of a character which requires her to be singlemindedly unsympathetic until a sudden (and, frankly, unconvincing) epiphany near the end).The casting leans towards the bizarre, the point where Goldberg starts to be able to see Osment's imaginary friend is implausible enough to up the bizarreness quotient noticeably, and the full-on Fred and Ginger dance routine delivered by Goldberg and Depardieu, while very nearly worth the admission price in its own right, is (let's be honest here) full-throttle bizarreness made flesh.An interesting experiment - not wholly successful, but with enough good points to make it worth a watch.

Child actors are supposed to make us feel happy while we're watching a film but just about all of Haley Joel Osment's films have tragic or disturbing overtones and elements and this 1996 Warner Brothers release that tries (unsuccessfully) to be a pleasant comedy is one of them. Osment makes his film debut in this tale about a little boy (Osment) whose mother (Nancy Travis) dies. He is then sent to live with his grumpy foster aunt (Whoopi Goldberg). In an effort to ease the pain, Osment frequently has contact with his imaginary friend, Bogus (Gerard Depardieu). It's a mystery how and even why Goldberg and Depardieu agreed to portray such wooden roles. All of the film's attempts at being even remotely pleasant fail and the film often winds up being more sad than funny leading to some misleading advertising.