(2008)
1.5
Craig Butler
Pity poor Spencer Breslin, the young actor who tries so hard to make something out of Harold, the lame, dreary, and decidedly unfunny comedy which he has to carry on his young shoulders. Breslin has talent, although not enough to make Harold watchable; but that would be asking for a miracle, given the horrible screenplay that T. Sean Shannon has cobbled together to support the one-joke premise of a bald, middle-aged type of guy who just happens to actually be a kid. It's the kind of setup that might make a passably amusing ten-minute skit but which is hopelessly limited for a full-length movie. Shannon compounds this problem by providing a screenplay that is woefully short on laughs and offers up fortune cookie-style homilies as messages. It doesn't help that Shannon's direction is static and uninspired; there's no fluidity here and at times the movie just seems to be standing still. Cuba Gooding Jr.'s all-too-familiar energetic performance is actively irritating, and aside from Nikki Blonsky, the rest of the supporting cast can't really do anything with the material. Blonsky's good-natured performance helps, and Breslin does what he can, but Harold is still one to miss.
Harold on AllMovie
Harold (2008)
