FIRST KID

"FIRST KID"
(1996) (Sinbad, Brock Pierce) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Mild	Moderate	Mild	Moderate

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Minor	Mild	None	*Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	None	None	Mild	Moderate

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A secret service agent is assigned to protect and "baby sit" the President's son.

PLOT:: Luke Davenport (BROCK PIERCE) is the bratty, spoiled son of the President of the United States. He isn't nice to Secret Service agent Woods (TIMOTHY BUSFIELD), who is assigned to protect him, and is responsible for Woods being fired. The service replaces Woods with Agent Sam Simms (SINBAD), a fun loving, kind at heart agent who isn't crazy about his new assignment. Simms soon learns, however, that Luke's behavior is based on the fact that he lives under the microscope of the press and has no real friends his own age. So Simms takes it upon himself to teach Luke how to defend himself, dance and have fun as a kid.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Yes. Early teens and younger kids will want to see this one.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For some violence, language and brief partial nudity.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: BROCK PIERCE plays the bratty kid who soon changes his ways after Simms becomes his friend and helps him have fun as a teenager.
SINBAD plays the caring agent assigned to Luke who breaks some Secret Service rules (taking him off the White House grounds, etc...) in order to teach Luke lessons about life and about having fun.
TIMOTHY BUSFIELD plays an agent who loses his job, turns to the booze and kidnaps Luke and tries to kill both him and Simms.; SINBAD plays the caring agent assigned to Luke who breaks some Secret Service rules (taking him off the White House grounds, etc...) in order to teach Luke lessons about life and about having fun.
TIMOTHY BUSFIELD plays an agent who loses his job, turns to the booze and kidnaps Luke and tries to kill both him and Simms.; TIMOTHY BUSFIELD plays an agent who loses his job, turns to the booze and kidnaps Luke and tries to kill both him and Simms.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 5 out of 10: While nowhere near as bad as other critics are saying, this is a fun, but not great, movie. As usual, Sinbad is very charismatic on screen and carries the film when the plot is no longer able to. Pierce is okay as the first kid, but does a much better job as the likeable, willing to learn Luke, then as the stuck up, pain in the butt kid that he plays at the beginning. The film could've used more of the White House/Secret Service related humor scenes (such as where Luke wears an earpiece while Simms feeds him lines to ask out a girl) that would have made it a much more enjoyable experience. It's a bit haphazard at times and takes a more adult and rather violent turn at the end. While telegraphed to us and not entirely unexpected, this turn ruins the earlier fun the film emitted. Still, it's a cute kid's film and parents and children alike will have a fun time watching it. We give it a 5 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Other than the ending of the movie, there isn't much to object to here. There's just one brief drinking scene and no profanity, sex or smoking. There are the typical bully scenes with two minor fist fights, and Luke is a bratty kid at the beginning. The ending, though, is a disappointment and is rather violent (including a shot of a gun pointing at us and then of the bullet racing toward us -- representing Luke's point of view), especially considering the tone of the rest of the movie. It's strange that it was thrown in (but we suppose it was put there to get a PG rating and to "appeal to the adult audience") and it nearly ruins the earlier fun of the movie. If kids are forewarned of the ending, however, it might not be such a jolting shock to them (For details see the last entries in "Violence"). As usual, read through the category listings before deciding whether this is appropriate for your children.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: In a bar Simm's boss drinks a beer and Woods is seen heavily drinking (and is rather drunk) after having just lost his job.
People drink wine at a Presidential reception.

BLOOD/ GORE: Just three shots of bloody noses and/or lips after fistfights.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Simms and his partner occasionally abuse their status as Secret Service agents (such as when they have to "inspect" several donuts for "bombs"). They also lie about what they and Luke and have been up to in order to keep themselves out of hot water.
Luke is a spoiled brat for the first third of the movie. He gives the agents assigned to him a hard time and doesn't want to cooperate in any activity. (He later loosens up and has a better attitude for the rest of the movie)
Luke "moons" many people from the dressing room in a shopping mall.
A school bully makes fun of Luke (and Simms) on several occasions and picks two fights with him.
A former agent kidnaps Luke and blames him for his misfortunes.

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: There is some tension as we know that someone bad is coming after Luke in a shopping mall (and there's some tense music playing). Then Woods shows up and kidnaps Luke and fires his gun at Simms. After it's empty, they fight and Simms apparently knocks Woods out. But he suddenly sits up, grabs his ankle gun and fires a shot at Luke (and we see Luke's point of view as the bullet races toward him). Simms rushes over and takes the bullet in the arm and saves the day.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns: Used by Agent Woods to hold Luke hostage and then to shoot at Simms. Moments later Woods shoots at Luke but Simms steps in and takes the bullet in the arm. Other agents then rush in and shot and wound Woods.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Dork," "Dorky," "Shut up," "Sucks," "Wuss," and "Jerk."
A school bully shoots a spitball at Simms (who later returns the action with a larger, wetter spitball).
Simms and Luke make faces and funny gestures at Simms' superior behind his back.
Simms teaches Luke how to do a pelvic thrust while dancing which he and Simms do many times.

JUMP SCENES: Younger kids may jump as Woods suddenly sits up (after we think he's been knocked out) and grabs his ankle gun. See "Frightening/Tense Scenes" for details.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): Several scenes at the end of the movie are accompanied by mild tense music.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: Just 1 use of "Oh my God" as an exclamation.

SEX/NUDITY: Luke "moons" many people from a dressing room in a shopping mall.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Using the Internet to "chat" with people you don't know who may be misrepresenting themselves as younger people.
Life under the spotlight of being a celebrity.

VIOLENCE: Simms knocks over several tables at a Presidential reception as he tries to catch and control Luke's pet snake.
Woods manhandles Luke on several occasions as he tries to get him to move along.
A school bully picks on Luke who throws a punch at the bully. It doesn't hurt him and the bully then punches Luke knocking him to the ground and bloodying his lip.
During boxing practice, Luke accidentally punches Simms in the crotch. Later, Simms hits a punching bag and knocks down the guy who was holding it.
Luke tells Simms that it would be a shame if the President learned of Simms taking Luke off the grounds to learn how to box. Simms then says "It would be a shame if I threw you out that window."
Several kids grab Simms (dressed as a mascot on roller skates) and push him down the floor where he then uncontrollably rolls and smashes into a wall. Later they make him run into and over a wall where he lands on a birthday cake.
Luke throws one of his shoes across the room when he's told he can't leave the grounds.
The school bully picks a fight with Luke at a school dance. He throws some punches which miss and Luke hits him twice knocking the bully to the floor.
In a shopping mall Woods shows up and kidnaps Luke, knocking over many people as he drags Luke through the mall. Woods punches one man and then fires his gun many times at Simms. After it's empty, they fight (punches and kicks to the face and body and Woods tries to strangle Simms) and Simms apparently knocks him out. But Woods suddenly sits up, grabs his ankle gun and fires a shot at Luke. Simms then rushes over and takes the bullet in the arm and other agents rush in and shoot Woods, wounding him.
Luke hits a street hockey puck that flies through the air and hits Simms on the head.

Reviewed September 1, 1996

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.