The Kid
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: July 7, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
18
Negative:
7
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The result is fine fantasy fun. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
It's Willis who delivers the goods in scene after scene, triumphing over a thin script, often bland direction. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Warm-hearted and effective. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A parable for adults -- particularly men. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Schickel
It's a modest little fantasy. But it's also well made, unpretentious and refreshing. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Too bad The Kid gets bogged down in its sentimental manipulations. It has more going for it than you might suppose. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A pleasantly lightweight confection. Read full review
60
Film.comPeter Brunette
It's solid, if ultimately uninspired, July entertainment. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Vigilant viewers may spend many of the 101 minutes fixating on tiny holes in the plot, but I was busy being moved by the premise and the filmmakers' confidence in the power of their metaphor: a little boy who's disappointed in the man he grew up to be. Read full review
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
But if the endpoint is a homiletic given, the journey itself is more charming, and less sentimental, than you might suspect. Read full review
60
TNT RoughCutSusannah Breslin
An utterly competent, systematically entertaining summer movie. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
This is quintessential "family entertainment." Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A movie we might like to buy into if left to our own devices, but that idea is anathema to Turteltaub, intent on pushing us so hard that we end up pushing back. Read full review
50
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
This boomer-coddling comic fantasy, in which a callous adult on the brink of 40 has a chance encounter with his pudgy, lisping 8-year-old self, is an iffier what-if. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
There isn't a moment in the film that isn't overhyped. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Audrey Wells's script and Turteltaub's presentation ring true just often enough to prevent the comedy from descending forever into Cutesy-Wutesy Hell. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Perfectly acceptable entertainment in the Mouse Factory's most familiar vein. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
There's nothing Disneyesque about this bomb except the forced levity of its musical score. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
This slight, predictable comedy has appealing moments. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Surprisingly enough, it often soars to heights of not bad. Read full review
45
Mr. ShowbizCody Clark
Every time the movie seems poised to veer into watchability, however, Turteltaub is there, like a beat cop for the Fun Police, reminding us to laugh, sigh, or tear up. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Willis and Breslin are stuck in a charmless, predictable picture they can't escape. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
Manipulative but fitfully entertaining "Twilight Zone"-ish comedy of redemption. Read full review
40
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The comic screenplay...pivots on a toothless premise: Russ needs to get in touch with his inner child.
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
A lightweight, intermittently engaging comedy. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Falls flat on its face. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Neither can I imagine many sane adults wanting to put themselves through this movie. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
So rich in processed sugar, canned sentiment and schmaltz, I thought I was going to throw up. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Wields its Middle America values and moralistic flogging of idiosyncratic lifestyle choices like a flipped bird. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldCurtis Morgan
Deadly dull. Read full review
20
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Director Jon Turteltaub's insistence upon hammering every point home with giant closeups and relentless musical underlining makes this insufferably cloying and sickly sweet. Read full review
10
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The Kid's denouement resembles the nightmare that would have transpired had execs foisted a toupee and a happy ending on "12 Monkeys." Read full review
More From This Movie

45 Critic Reviews

6.4 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL