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Review by Susan Granger
2 stars out of 4
If you enjoyed the "Look Who's Talking" trilogy, then this is
the kind of comedy you'll enjoy. The gimmick of having babies speak is
revisited here with a plot that revolves around the idea that all
babies are born with the wisdom of the ages and the ability to speak
with each other. So, what adults hear as gurgling "baby talk" is
actually a sophisticated dialogue. And, through CGI technology, the
babies' lips move exactly like adults' lips, simulating conversation,
along with appropriate facial expressions. Writer/director Bob Clark
and co-writer Greg Michael have concocted a morality play, with its
conflict between good and evil, in which twins are separated at birth
by a scheming, wildly ambitious child psychiatrist, Dr. Kinder
(Kathleen Turner) who runs BABYCO, the world's largest manufacturer of
baby products. She keeps one, named Sly, to be raised with constant
discipline and training in a secret, experimental research research
lab - where he interacts with the best and brightest of other baby
geniuses - except he's always trying to escape. Meanwhile, his twin,
Whit, is raised by Dr. Kinder's niece (Kim Cattrall) who, with her
husband (Peter MacNicol), runs an old-fashioned nursery school, where
love, tenderness, and good sense reign. It's the antithesis of
BABYCO. Inevitably, the babies meet - at a shopping mall at
Christmastime - and, in a mistaken-identity switch, they find
themselves in each other's environment. What works in this film is the
inherent whimsical appeal of the babies - who are actually played by
the Fitzgerald triplets from Vancouver. What doesn't work is the
psychobabble and contrived amusement. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1
to 10, "Baby Geniuses" is a flimsy 5. Cute but cloying - unless you're
really into watching the screen antics of two-year olds.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
