Disappointing comedy-drama with a sentimental coating has Michael J. Fox ideally cast as a former child star who now runs a talent agency for thespian tots; brother Nathan Lane and Cyndi Lauper are his assistants. This all sounds as if it can't miss, however too much of the scenario is given over to strident Christina Vidal as a streetwise tyke whom Fox believes will be the next big thing. They quickly lock horns, and the bantering, back-and-forth dialogue takes them to an uninteresting, formulaic finish. Fox and Lane are both appealing, but the energy of the early scenes gives way to treacle. Slickly-produced, but ultimately stale. *1/2 from ****

I can only imagine that the rave reviews here are solely due to fanatic adoration of Michael J. Fox. This is the worst sort of movie-making, no better than than the worst amateur effort. It's embarrassing to think that Fox had to do this sort of thing, and that in the 80's-90's Hollywood failed him and us so miserably.It's dull, poorly conceived, and poorly executed. Miscast, misguided and miscarried. Bad writing, no story, no production values, no plot. It's not even about anything, much less what it aims to be about: show business. Hands down, it's the worst movie Fox ever made, and that's saying a lot, because most of his movies were unworthy and unforgiving of a great talent.

This is an underrated movie with one of Fox's most subtley comical moments. The irony was not lost watching Fox portray an ex-sitcom star. Watching Fox as a smarmy, sleazy agent was so wonderfully different from anything he had done up to that point. The movie was made for watching after sleeping in over half the day on Sunday. Also, a great turns by Nathan Lane, who I didn't recognize in the role for many years, and a young David Krumholtz who is going to ascend the throne as the next John Turturro.

Take a couple of great actors and give them a poor script and not even they can't make it good. This film had its moments, but the only real memorable ones are during the child stars' auditions. All in all, I remember it being really funny when I was younger and now I found it watchable, but nothing special, and especially not in my top five or even ten. I was actually surprised that there were so many positive reviews on here.