Me brother...he's drunk as a skunk! (The Wedding Planner (DVD))

Member Name: Shnophina

Product:	The Wedding Planner (DVD)
Date:	29/01/03 (442 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good storyline, Funny, Excellent acting

Disadvantages: Some mild swears, The American cover

Have you ever found a film that you loved when you were a kid, and then watched it years later and wonder why you thought it was so great? I had that experience with "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" and I was worried that "War of the Buttons" would be the same, but luckily I still love it as much now as I did when I was 7. And I still laugh when Big Con says "Me brother...he's drunk as a skunk!"

"War of the Buttons" is based on a French book called "La Guerre des Boutons". It's the story of two groups of boys, aged from about 7 to 13, from villages in Ireland - Ballydowse and Carrickdowse. It doesn't say exactly when the story is set, I think it's probably around the 60s. The two groups are deadly enemies - though no one quite seems to know why. It's just always been that way. There's a lot of arguing and picking on each other and fighting over who gets to sell tickets to the postman - but nothing too serious.

The 'good guys', so to speak, are the Ballydowse boys, or Ballys. Their leader is Fergus. He's definitely a good leader and has a lot of influence over the other boys. He's a total troublemaker, but the viewer has a lot of sympathy for him when we see the bad state of his home life, which is the only serious part of the film. There are lots of funny characters in the Bally group, particularly Little Con and Tim, and I just love Boffin! He's so cute! The leader of the Carricks is Jerome, known as Geronimo. We don't see much of the other boys in his group, except one called Gorilla - presumably not his real name.

After one battle, the Ballys capture Gorilla. Instead of hurting him, they cut off his tie, laces and buttons. They keep doing this - these buttons are like their trophies. The boys, especially the two leaders, take their 'war' so incredibly seriously - they plan everything so perfectly and even raise money to replace the butto
ns that they lose in fights.

The story is simple but there are some orginial twist and it's also very funny. The acting is also extremely good, I was really surprised at how good the kids are - they're a hundred times better than the kids in the Harry Potter movies. I think this is the type of movie that people of all ages can enjoy. The only disadvantages are that there are some minor swears that parents might not be happy about, and I really don't like the American cover. The UK one has Fergus and Geronimo on it, but the US one has the Carricks all cheering and "War of the Buttons" written in kid's writing. The Carricks are supposed to be the bad guys! Why put them on the cover looking happy?! And the whole point of the film is that the kids try so hard to act like grown-ups, so I don't like the style of writing either. But that's not really that relevant, and overall, this is an excellent film.

Summary: