Film

Shorts

Cert: PG

Description: Toe Thompson is a regular kid who lives in Black Falls with his family. He is bullied mercilessly at school by Helvetica Black and her older brother Cole Black, whose father is the CEO of a company that is poised to take over its world with a multi-purpose gadget called the Black Box. By chance, Toe discovers a rainbow-coloured rock and unleashes its hidden power: to grant the holder his or her every wish.

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Dir: Robert Rodriguez.

Cast: Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short, James Spader, Devon Gearhart, William H Macy, Jolie Vanier

Country: US.

Year: 2009.

Duration: 88mins

Boy monstered by special effects in Shorts

Slime time: Jimmy Bennett (Toe Thompson) goes all gooey

By Derek Malcolm
21 Aug 2009

When Robert Rodriguez made El Mariachi for a reported $7,000 in the early Nineties, we all thought a director of some stature had been born.

While films such as From Dusk Till Dawn and Grindhouse hardly added to his reputation, three successful episodes of the Spy Kids franchise certainly helped.

Now we have this fantasy, which has so many special effects battering the screen that one wonders why it was not made in 3D, like his Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Eleven-year-old Toe Thompson (Jimmy Bennett) finds his protection against school bullies in a Rainbow Rock which falls from the sky and does his every bidding.

The trouble is that the rock passes from hand to hand among the suburban community of Black Falls and the local industrial bigwig wants to get in on the act.

There�s more fun to be had from watching the various miracles on display than deciphering the story, or wondering why William H Macy and James Spader took bit parts in it.