Fun Size, 2012.
Directed by Josh Schwartz.
Starring Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Thomas McDonell, Thomas Mann, Osric Chau, Chelsea Handler, Thomas Middleditch, Jackson Nicoll, Josh Pence and Johnny Knoxville.
SYNOPSIS:
Wren’s Halloween plans go awry when she’s made to babysit her brother, who disappears into a sea of trick-or-treaters. With her best friend and two nerds at her side, she needs to find her brother before her mom finds out he’s missing.
Fun Size is a Nickelodeon movie starring Victoria Justice. Justice has made a name for herself starring in kid friendly shows like Zoey 101 and Victorious. Now she gets a lead role in a feature film that feels like a made-for-TV movie. One has to wonder why this movie made it to the big screen when it could have easily performed much better as a Friday night movie on Nickelodeon.
While Fun Size isn’t all completely bad, there’s nothing about it that sets it apart from any other teenage movies. It tries so hard to be like 80s teen comedies, mostly ones made by John Hughes, but its attempts at being like those films just make it look like that much lesser of a movie. Those John Hughes movies had a lot of heart and really gave you a look at what it was like to be a teenager in the 80s – not to mention most of them had a lot of laughs to go along with what it was like to be a teen. Fun Size does try to be humorous and add a bit of heart but in the end it only offers a few chuckles and the heart of the movie doesn’t even come in until the last ten minutes where it just feels forced.
Despite the lack of laughs the movie does feature a fairly game cast. Victoria Justice does make for a likable lead, however she’s not really that great of an actress. She has a certain quality about her that will certainly help her during her career. Chelsea Handler (This Means War) plays the mom here and while her side story is utterly pointless she actually plays a mom pretty well. Jane Levy (Suburgatory) as Justice’s best friend provides a few laughs, as does Thomas Middleditch as a convenient store worker named Fuzzy. The only person I had a problem with in the cast was Jackson Nicoll who plays Albert. He just comes off as annoying throughout the entire movie, especially in a lame attempt to make him look funny right before the credits.
In the end, Fun Size doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. While it tries to be like popular 80s comedies, there are times when it feels like a kid’s movie that should be on Nickelodeon. Throw in a huge lack of comedy and a poor attempt to add some heart, and it feels like the only people who would find enjoyment from Fun Size are those who still think Nickelodeon is funny.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Jake Peffer
Originally published March 18, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
