It’s October again, which means it’s also the season of horror movies and the more kid-friendly Disney Channel Original Movie-esque films. The newest addition to that genre, a Halloween tween comedy called “Fun Size,” is actually from Nickelodeon. Although the movie is cute and even funny at times, you are much better off staying home and re-watching “Hocus Pocus.”
“Fun Size” is the story of teen Wren, played by Nick star Victoria Justice, who has to miss a party thrown by her popular crush in order to babysit her practically mute little brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) on Halloween, only to lose him while trick-or-treating. There are a bunch of subplots complicating that simple premise. Wren and Albert’s father recently passed away (which is why Albert does not talk), and their mother, played by Chelsea Handler, goes to a party with her new, much-younger boyfriend to try to move on. Wren, on the search for her brother, juggles her best friend (Jane Levy) pushing her to go to the party, while also dealing with growing feelings for her nerdy friend Roosevelt (Thomas Mann). There are also the adventures Albert has while wandering around town after he ditches his sister.
Although “Fun Size” seems like a sweet enough story on paper, it falls flat in practice. The humor is paced far too slowly to really work, and most of the young actors are just not well-versed in comedy. The funniest actor by far is Nicoll, who portrays the silent Albert, but he was not enough to carry the entire movie. The script also relies far too much on stereotypes, and its lessons are too on-the-nose, even for a kid’s movie. The film has a habit of reaching important turning points for its fairly one-dimensional characters and then ignoring them immediately afterward. These turning points would be the moments, in a strong script, when character would become the focus. However, “Fun Size” leaves the characters uninteresting and flat. There are much better films for watching teens go on city road trips with similar character tropes, but with better writing, such as in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”
“Fun Size” is not all bad. Albert’s adventure is pretty funny, as he helps geeky convenience store worker Fuzzy (Thomas Middleditch) exact revenge on the man who stole his girlfriend. Nicoll may be young, but his adorably chubby face portrays quite a bit despite not being overly expressive, and his lack of lines puts the focus more on physical comedy. Veteran comedians have cameos as various quirky adults, including Johnny Knoxville as Fuzzy and Albert’s nemesis, and Kerri Kenney and Ana Gasteyer as Roosevelt’s hippie mothers.
In general, “Fun Size” was a cute but only slightly entertaining movie, and certainly not worth the price of a ticket. You are much better off waiting for its inevitable Nickelodeon television debut.
