It’s funny how the beloved movies of one’s less politically correct youth turn out to have a lot more edge to them once you show them to your own kids.
“Back to the Future” has more sexuality than you remember, and little blasts of profanity. “Adventures in Babysitting,” “Bad News Bears” and “Goonies,” even more.
“Fun Size” is in that tradition — at least in terms of the naughty stuff that tweens and teens will snicker over.
Pity it isn’t as much fun as its title implies.
Victoria Justice jumps from Nickelodeon to the big screen with a PG-13 romp that only rarely romps, a movie that surrounds the lovely 19-year-old with funny people and struggles to find them laughs.
Justice (TV’s “Victorious”) plays Wren, a Cleveland high school senior dreaming of the day she can slip off to New York and college, which is where her late father taught her that “you find out who you really are.”
First, she has to talk Mom (Chelsea Handler, given nothing funny to do) into letting her apply to NYU.
Mom’s a bit distracted. Her grieving for her late husband has taken the form of sleeping with the much younger, goofier, oddly named Keevin (Josh Pence).
And Mom is determined to hang out with Keevin’s loser friends on Halloween, which ruins Wren’s plans to hit the hot high school party that night with her hot-to-trot pal April (Jane Levy, amusingly on the money).
Wren has to baby-sit her silent-but-deadly 8-year-old brother, Albert (Jackson Nicoll), who basically stopped talking when their dad died.
Albert escapes his sister’s care and has many adventures involving pranks and assorted run-ins with thugs, girls out clubbing and the like.
And so “Fun Size” waddles along at half-speed, never building momentum.
“Fun Size” (2 stars)
Halloween night misadventures as an 8-year-old escapes from the care of his teen sister (Victoria Justice) while their mom (Chelsea Handler), a recent widow, is determined to have a good time with her young swain. Not much fun and fairly plodding.
Rated: PG-13 for material, language.
Showing: Alderwood, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Meridian, Oak Tree, Sundance, Woodinville, Cascade Mall.
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