This is a great come back for Robert Downey Jr if you look close. He does a fantastic job bringing his character to life and showing his sarcasm, but Ethan's character is not even funny or silly...it is just airhead ridiculous and as much as I love dogs Sonny was only used twice in a comedic way. Other than that, the dog was just there. Much more could have been done with this movie and the writers and directors missed it.
The theater version did not offer anymore than a dvd version would offer. Being a native New Orleanian, I did not find anything special that was relative to the South in that era exception the separation of the races as well as the division of the East and West banks of the Mississippi River. The lightening bug communication was for the older children, but even they had trouble understanding his Cajun accent. The colors were beatiful, but overall I did not enjoy this Disney movie as I have other in the past.
Although I could relate to the message of the relationships that the movie was trying to convey, the humor was dull and silly. Vince part did not do him justice...to bad cause it has been a while since we last saw him in funny role.
Although I am not a big Clint Eastwood fan, I wanted to see if he could still perform well for the screen and in this movie he surely did. It was all of the Archie Bunker stuff, but this had a modern twist. In the Archie show he did help the people he despised from time to time, but in this moview Clint Eastwood laid his life down for a young man that resembled his past's enemy. Mr Eastwood was very funny with a dry sense of humor. He was still physically fit and was able to way the roll very well. Excellent job to all actors and actresses in this movie.
Very very funny movie with a lesson for all to learn, but wait until it comes out on DVD as the children in the audience were screaming and jumping all around and you can't hear the movie.