Mac And Me

Mac and Me (1988)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Stewart Raffill

Starring: Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, Tina Caspary, Lauren Stanley, Jade Calegory

From: Orion

Would you believe both this and The Garbage Pail Kids Movie played on TCM Underground this past Friday night? I saw TGPKM and as I've already reviewed that and I still think it's laughably bad... but I hadn't seen Mac and Me in many, many years:

This motion picture features a score that sometimes sounds exactly like the music from Predator.

I had actually seen this damn movie before, in what had to be the early 90's. My memories were real hazy so this might as well have been a first time watch for me. Finally, I can say that after all these years... Lord did this ever rip off E.T. The template for that movie was followed real closely, down to how the aliens are brown-colored creatures. Unfortunately for Mac and Me, they created some ugy-ass and frightening aliens... I suppose you could say that Mac was sometimes sort of cute, but those things in adult form is nightmare fuel.

Yet I can't say this is unwatchably bad. Personally I am not a fan of the trope this uses (the “disbelieving authority figure” trope) but that's just me. There are plenty of moments that are hilarious in retrospect, such as the lead rolling off a cliff into a lake or all the 80's hair & clothing. The most infamous aspect is the rampant product placement... the inexplicable dance scene in McDonald's (complete with Ronald McDonald) is what everyone cites there but Skittles and-especially-Coca-Cola is more prominent in the film.

Another aspect that provided me much mirth is how Alan Silvestri's score sometimes is a carbon copy of the score he created for Predator. Personally, the creatures here are scarier than the Predator! Also, what an outrageous finale for a PG-rated kids film... the 1980's were truly different back then. And to think the Japanese version of the film (this news broke a few months ago) explicitly shows a pivotal moment that is definitely not OK for a family picture today. I am not surprised a film so odd has a cult following, or that due to the likes of Paul Rudd there have been multiple meme moments.

One last thing: I do have to give this credit for having a lead character in a wheelchair and he was played by an actual disabled actor... representation and all that.