PASS THE POPCORN: REVIEW The Bracelet of Bordeaux Yes, I Laughed Greg Wright | 14.07.09 Posted in Reviews, New on DVD, DVD Feature, DVDInterested in a little goofy Saturday morning fun with your kids? The Bracelet of Bordeaux is goofy enough and fun enough, and it's even fairly family friendly. But it might just overstay its welcome.Helen has just moved to Chem City, Texas with her dad Lubbock and mom Honey. Upon being greeted at the airport by mile-wide grins, civic-pride singing twins, and a longhorn- festooned Humvee, the three arrive at their new Armadillo Estates home… only to find that riverboat-mafia-backed blackmailing punks have dognapped French neighbor Marie's poodle. And stolen Honey's favorite sofa. Papa Lubbock's not into crime-fighting, so after 9-1-1 tells him to take a number, he's off to the oil wells. That leaves Honey to shop, and nerdly Wood Sprout scout Helen and new chum Marie to solve the caper.With the help, that is, of a magic bracelet once worn by Marie's granny to help the French Resistance burn down a Nazi concentration camp.Whew!The comedy is broad and often funny as first-time writer Frank Eakin and first-time director Casey Kelly kind of lovingly exploit the small Texas town where the film was shot and set. Even though everything's big in Texas, Eakin and Kelly have smartly opted for the small-is- better approach to comedy, gently targeting do-gooder scouting groups, do-less-gooder petroleum manufacturers, jingle-singing twins, surly shopkeepers, and toothless stoop denizens as the subjects of their barbs. Sure, this is kid-level satire that kind of feels like Spongebob Squarepants; but it also feels like many speaking roles may have been filled by Kelly's neighbors… playing themselves. So the humor never gets mean, though it often gets kind of stupid—as with a sequence in which a doltish dog-mafia stooge feeds Tobasco to the dogs just to hear them pass gas.Like many low-budget films, the shoot-quick-and-ask-editing-questions-later approach yields some awkward sequences and far too many close-ups without establishing shots to help audiences get oriented with the action. But I frequently found myself chuckling in spite of myself at much of the script's clever wordplay. Kelly also gets appropriately slapsticky performances every member of the cast. As decent as young Ally Claire Carson is as Helen, in fact, I oddly looked forward to what kooky surprise the next bit role had in store. Like the surprising National Anthem moment near the film's end. It's not often in low-budget films that the background action is as interesting as the foreground.But to be honest, I ended up watching the film's second half at double speed—and don't think I missed a thing. At 99 minutes, the premise is probably stretched about 39 minutes too long for adult taste, though I imagine kids will stick with it as they munch on Cheerios and build things with Legos, or whatever it is that kids build things with these days.The story's primary lessons, though, are a little strange. First, Marie's grandma lectures her about the dangers of being led astray by organizations that pander to children—the primary reference here being Hitler Youth, not Wood Sprout Scouts per se. But when grandma describes Hitler as the man who "turned the world upside down," I'm not sure if Eakin has confused Hitler with the Apostle Paul, or whether the film is warning children to be wary of groups like Awana, Whirly Birds, and Jet Cadets for Jesus.Second, when Marie and Helen go behind grandma's back to employ the Magic Bracelet to break the crime ring and rescue the 'napped dogs, Marie is clearly given the message that it's okay to break rules once in a while in order to serve the greater good. It's a comforting bromide, I suppose, in a post-9-11 world; but isn't such moral relevancy a lot more suitable for adults than for children? They'll learn to compromise their ideals soon enough without encouragement like this.Bottom line: a pretty darned decent job for a micro-budget DIY production. You probably won't regret renting this for some light weekend entertainment, at least not too much. But I doubt you'll be too eager for a repeat viewing, either.

My 13 year old son and I saw this movie with another 13 year old boy and his mom. We all found the movie to be very engaging and entertaining. My friend commented that it was better than many big studio children's movies. I especially enjoyed the scene where Helen is traveling through the forest to the swamp and the scenes with Grandmere. The special effects, cinematography and sound were of top-notch quality. It's hard to believe that this film was created by a first-time producer, and a crew and cast mostly made up of kids. The community model of film making has proved to be a success. We can't wait for the sequel.

Fm: Frank Eakin, ProducerBelow you will find excerpts from four reviews, written by professional journalists and critics:THE BRACELET OF BORDEAUX REVIEWSBy Greg Flakus, Voice of America (10.26.06)"Looking for some light, fun and engaging entertainment for the whole family? The Bracelet of Bordeaux is your ticket. This film has all the elements of a mystery drama, plus chuckles aplenty for both kids and their parents. The story revolves around the adventures of two pre-teen girls and their dogs. There are bad guys from the mafia and Punk scene, and even a nasty old neighbor lady, but the girls prevail thanks to a bit of magic and a lot of pluck. The Bracelet of Bordeaux is likely to become a family favorite for years to come."By David Dow Bentley III, The People's Critic(www.ThePeoplesCritic.com 10.24.06----People's Critic Archive 10.24.06)"It is widely recognized that Hollywood is under-nourishing our nation's youth when it comes to supplying wholesome, entertaining films with general family appeal. If my recent viewing of the final cut print of THE BRACELET OF BORDEAUX is any clue, relief is on the way from Texas-based Eakin Films. The magical adventures of young Helen, her adorable dog, Rufus, and her best friend Marie, comprise an amusing and mysterious tale that is promising to captivate both young and old. Have we found the female Harry Potter? Eakin looks poised to give the folks at Disney a run for their money. Brace yourself for BRACELET fun!!! "By Howie Doyle, Editor, That Texas Magazine (December, 2006)"A delightful, locally produced, independent film.... The storyline has been likened to the Harry Potter series, and in fact doesn't stray far from the formula that Spielberg mined with E.T., which has spawned thousands of hours of fantastic and heartwarming cinematic entertainment in the last 25 years. And like the best of these movies, The Bracelet of Bordeaux, which runs just over an hour and a half, comes up with enough belly laughs and light drama to keep parents entertained as well."By Gary Brown, Reviewer, The Villager (December 21, 2006)"Considering the relatively low budget, I was most impressed with the near Disney Channel-like quality of the production. The photography, musical score, and special effects are all superb, but more importantly the movie features a great kid-friendly script with an underlying theme about friendship....The acting in the film, particularly the young performers, is quite good."

My family and I saw this movie in Houston over Thanksgiving, while visiting my brother, the producer Frank Eakin. Frank has worked on this film full time for the last three years, and we were all impressed with the high quality of the final product. The model of a community based, yet high-quality,production may seem a stretch, especially when movies routinely cost in the millions, but the props, the filming, the editing, all are very high quality. And the children-- not only the main characters, but all of the children-- are so engaging and believable in the characterizations that The Woodlands should be proud of their concentation of talented youth! Of course, the adult actors and volunteers should get applause as well.But what will determine the quality of any film will be the story line and the characters. As a mother and grandmother, I have watched many children's movies, and I can say that this movie draws in the audience as well as any, and better than most. The action is fast-paced, the characterizations are multi-dimensional, and the result is wholesome fun with a subtle message about friendship and courage and using power for good, all in a professional quality film.