Mr. Troop Mom (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

Once in the wild, there's a lot of yelling, romping, tomfoolery, chasing around, and falling down, the whole thing getting pretty silly until about halfway through when it suddenly turns all drippy serious. Remember, Dad's got to connect with his daughter, right?

I did laugh once in the film, however, when Denise yanks a kid out her canoe. We thank Providence for small favors.

Needless to say, it all comes down to the Killer Bees vs. the Wasps in the end. What, you didn't expect that?

The acting, pacing, dialogue, and gags in "Mr. Troop Mom" are about what we have come to expect from a TV production, as is the direction of William Dear ("Angels in the Outfield," "The Sandlot 3," "Free Style"), meaning they are pretty poor by theatrical-release standards. Still, this is no theatrical release, so I suppose we can cut it some slack. It is what it is, no better, no worse. Take it at that.

Video:
Warner Bros. offer the film in two screen formats, standard (1.33:1) and wide (1.78:1) on the same side of a single DVD. It's a short film, so they can get away with it. The widescreen version that I watched provides a good deal more information left and right, and it's quite clear and clean. It's so free of grain, in fact, that it appears the filmmakers may have used digital cameras. I don't know. It reminds one of a good television broadcast, which, in fact, it probably is. Longer shots are precise in detail, especially when upscaled, and startlingly well defined; medium and close-up shots are considerably softer. Colors are the strong suit, though, showing up brilliantly and vividly, appropriate to a children's movie.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is almost aggressively bright and forward, with very little surround activity and even less bass or dynamics. For kids who have grown up listening to their music through earbuds or iPods, the movie's innocuous, constantly pulsating, pop-music background will undoubtedly sound good; to me, it was like listening to a Disney-channel children's band over an old transistor radio.

Extras:
Beyond the two screen formats I mentioned above, most of the disc's extras are almost purely promotional items. First up, we get four featurettes: "George Goes to Camp," about six minutes of Lopez telling us how challenging it was to shoot on location; "Naomi's Journal," about seven-plus minutes with Daniela Bobadilla's thoughts on the filming, along with those of some of her co-stars; "Killer Bees Vs. Wasps," about five minutes on the rivalry in the story; and "Rockin' the Bonfire," about four minutes on the Naked Brothers Band, two young friends of the Lopez family who perform in the film.

In addition, there are four additional scenes, totaling about five minutes; a gag reel at about four minutes; twenty-three scene selections; various trailers at start-up; access to a digital copy of the film, compatible with Windows Media only; English as the only spoken language; French and Spanish subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Shots:
For ten-year-olds, "Mr. Troop Mom" probably works perfectly well. As I've said, kids wouldn't have seen all the clichés before and might find them amusing. However, this adult was every minute hoping that Jason Voorhees would show up at the summer camp and dispose of a few of the actors. The movie also reminded me of how much better, funnier, and more original the summer-camp scenes were in "Meatballs" and "Addams Family Values." Oh, well....

If I had to assign the movie a film rating for children only, I'd guess and give it 6/10. Although it's ordinary, it's harmless and makes a stab at providing kids with a worthwhile moral lesson. Nevertheless, for adults I've got to say, Beware. The 5/10 rating below is a generous compromise on my part.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---