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Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 20 Ratings

  • Starring: James Spader, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings
  • Summary: Eleven-year-old Toe Thompson is the designated punching bag for the bullies of the suburban community of Black Falls, where his and everyone else's parents work for Black Box Industries, makers of the do-it-all gadget that's sweeping the nation. But during a freak storm, a mysterious Rainbow Rock, which grants wishes to anyone who finds it, falls from the sky. Suddenly, the neighborhood that Toe already thinks is weird is about to get a lot weirder. As the Rainbow Rock ricochets around the town--from kid to kid and parent to parent--wishes-come-true quickly turn the neighborhood upside down in a wild rampage of everything from tiny aliens to giant boogers. The magical fantasy adventure Shorts is told through a series of interwoven not-so-tall tales that each brings to life the sometimes wonderful, often terrible, and totally out-of-control wishes that become far more than Toe and his neighbors ever imagined. (Warner Bros.) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 22
  2. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. Reviewed by: Justin Chang
    80
    More zippy, diverting fun from Robert Rodriguez's family filmmaking factory.
  2. Provides just enough smart, silly fun for families desperately seeking an easy (and air-conditioned) escape from hazy August humidity.
  3. Reviewed by: Mark Jenkins
    60
    A preachy parable of suburban discontent, Shorts probably has enough kid-oriented slapstick to please the under-12 set. But it's not likely to rival writer-director Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" series in long-term appeal.
  4. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    38
    Be warned, though: This is the multiplex equivalent of ADD.

See all 22 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 9
  2. Negative: 4 out of 9
  1. RickA
    5
    This was one of those that was just o k. I did not like or dislike this movie. Worth the money is a question only you can answer after seeing this one. Expand
  2. ChadS.
    4
    "Shorts" might be headache-inducing, but that's only if you're old enough to have seen "The Goonies"(the Richard Donner-directed film which had some film critics reaching for the Tylenol, or revolver) in its original theatrical run, because more likely than not, moppets and sprouts are going to love the Booger Monster like how the ogre-like creature from the 1985 Steven Spielberg-produced summer blockbuster kept the analog generation in thrall. Presented as a series of linked stories, needless to say, "Shorts" has no aspirations to be literary(like Ernest Hemingway's short story collection, also linked, "In Our Time"), but that doesn't mean this CGI-laden film is completely devoid of sophistication. In the prologue, a bully picks up a rainbow colored stone, then hurls it at Toe Thompson(Jimmy Bennett), who promptly falls from a tree. The multi-hued piece of mineral matter just happened to be lying there, without explanation. Also in the prologue, Toe's friend Loogie(Trevor Gagnon) has a relentless supply of objects(which are identified as chocolate bars in another story) pouring out from both pockets; again, at that juncture, without any justifying cause. By some fluke, the unofficial prologue of "Shorts" shares with Ernest Hemingway's first short story collection, a stylistic decision to present its narrative without exposition. Although not for one second is this tiresome film the least bit engrossing, as family entertainments go, however, "Shorts" differs in that the story unravels non-linearly, which may provide young moviegoers with the dexterity to enjoy sequentially-challenged films such as Christopher Nolan's "Memento" and Jill Sprecher's "13 Conversations About One Thing", when they grow up. Expand
  3. ShawnP
    2
    Random and pointless.
  4. BridgetA
    0
    This film was, WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, the worst film I have ever seen in my point. It was puerile, pointless and a cynical bid to make some easy last minute cash at the end of the summer. It had no redeeming features whatsoever. Even my 6 year old thought it was pointless and stupid. Absolute rubbish. Expand

See all 9 User Reviews

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