The Real Howard Spitz (1998) User Reviews

B movie but above average

[Mark Price · 7/10 · 17 November 2004]

Well I like Kelsey Grammar so I decide to watch this last night. Now I know he is not box office and my expectations were not built up so I was pleasantly surprised that I not only enjoyed it overall but laughed out loud in parts – mostly from the daughter. She had the best lines! Amanda Donohoe, normally glam personified played not quite plain but lacking self esteem very well. Kelsey Grammar plays the usual and that is not knocking him, he does that cynical but soft underneath to perfection. Yes a lot of the plot is predicable but you are hardly going to see something new. The main cast play well of each other and the one-liners are thrown away in a timely fashion.

I can only think the earlier review had jet lag or bad service on his air flight. This is an excellent B movie.

Very oddball film

[MovieAddict2016 · 5/10 · 21 May 2005]

I'm not really sure what the point of this was but to be fair it is watchable in a mildly amusing sort of way. Kelsey Grammar is a down-on-his-luck alcoholic who dresses up as a children's TV cow (a la Barney), and in the process begins a friendship with a young girl which he never expected.

I rented this movie years ago and enjoyed it for what it was. It's not totally offensive (although some of the innuendo and not-so-subtle sex jokes involving cows and teets might turn off parents from letting their kids watch it) and Kelsey Grammar is always pretty funny.

However in the long run I felt as though filmmaker Vadim Jean (whom I've had the pleasure of speaking to and is a really nice guy) didn't really know where to go with the script, it's a mix between adult drama and children's comedy and in that regard it's a mixed bag.

Still worth watching if you get a chance, though.

Just OK

[MarioB · 7/10 · 2 August 1999]

Sometimes funny comedy that reminds me of the Shirley Temple pictures of the 1930's. Not great, but quite O.K. for adults, but not really for kids. It's a B movie. But I prefer this kind of B movie than big major Hollywood disgusting pictures with violence, guns and stupidity.

Kelsey Grammer is a charming curmudgeon

[dilbert · 29 October 1998]

"The Real Howard Spitz" is the story of a detective writer who switches to children's books because he thinks there's more money in it. The only problem is, he doesn't particularly like children. Despite his curmudgeonliness, a little girl befriends him and encourages him to pursue this new career. Kelsey Grammer is utterly believable as the cynical, money-hungry author, and Amanda Donohoe is charming and beautiful as the little girl's mother (and, predictably, Kelsey Grammer's love interest). The film is supposedly set in the US but was actually shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This film is really intended for children but has one minor example of foul language. The children and young adolescents in the audience seemed to be having a good time, and Kelsey Grammer fans will, too. In my experience, there are very few terrible Canadian films, and "The Real Howard Spitz" certainly isn't one of them. Go see it, or rent it, because you certainly won't lose any special effects by seeing it on the small screen.

Very nice family film with a brilliant lead

[Scrugulus · 7/10 · 16 January 2006]

This is a very nice film, narrating the story of an author, Howard Spitz, who's in need of a success. When he meets little Samantha by chance, they both realize they need each other. He needs her to help him create a successful children's book; she wants him to find her runaway father.

The story develops with Howard trying to become a celebrated author without leaving the comfortable emotional reclusion he got himself into over the years, and Samantha trying more and more desperately to reach her father.

The story is nice, and the idea behind it is great. Unfortunately, the turning-point scene at the end fails. Another weak point is that writer and/or director give the minor characters far too little room to develop, even though everyone knows how much minor characters contribute to films. But Grammar alone is worth the money. His brilliant acting keeps the film well above average - in fact, standing alone, Grammar's perfect portrayal of Howard Spitz would probably deserve a 10-out-of-10 rating.

Really Strange Direction

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 20 May 2005]

This is a family movie that was broadcast on my local ITV station at 1.00 am a couple of nights ago . This might be a strange decision on the part of the schedulers but THE REAL HOWARD SPITZ is a rather strange film , strange in the way it doesn't want to upset its audience . Come on there's nothing kids like more than sadism and that's why Roald Dahl was such a popular author for children . It also explains why DOCTOR WHO was such a successful show across the world . In this screenplay you're just dying for pulp fiction author to do something nasty to the kids but this doesn't happen . I'm not advocating child abuse but to see Howard Spitz lose his rag at the little ones would have made the movie rather better . Can you imagine how much worse KINDERGARTEN COP would have been if the producers had gone all PC ? I mean if you're making a movie centered around a children's author who hates children shouldn't the story show and not tell ?

Much of the problem lies with director Vadim Jean and you do get the feeling he doesn't know how to handle the material which is bad news for the movie . As someone previously noted the soundtrack is haphazard and Kelsey Grammar is very wooden . I guess he was trying to play it dead pan just like in that show he's famous for but it fails to work here and there's many scenes with quiet ridiculous camera angles which seem unintentional but which are very distracting . But at the end of the day the main problem remains that the potential is ruined because no one wanted to offend the audiences sensibilities

Deadly Dull

[Rene-6 · 2/10 · 6 May 1999]

I had to see this on the British Airways plane. It was terribly bad acting and a dumb story. Not even a kid would enjoy this. Something to switch off if possible.

Waste of time. Waste of talent

[studioAT · 1/10 · 17 August 2015]

Kelsey Grammar is beloved as Frasier Crane from Cheers and Frasier so you can see why film makers would want to take advantage of that on the big screen. Sadly this film is not a good one, and despite the best efforts of Grammar, I don't think I laughed very much at all.

He is without doubt the best thing in the film though, displaying all of the comic timing and delivery that we came to love on his TV show. The problem is that the film is so slow and the plot uninteresting that Grammar is fighting a losing battle trying to keep it afloat.

Amanda Donohue adds very little and as she did in Liar Liar only acts as a straight person to the comedian.

If you're a die hard Kelsey fan then you might enjoy it, other than that I'd avoid it.

A feel good movie, funny...

[Spider-36 · 10/10 · 15 March 1999]

I first watched this movie on an airplane that was flying to London. That's when I fell in love with this movie. Then a few months later, when I had the chance, I rented it on video. I fell even more in love with it. It's a feel good movie, it's funny, and you don't feel as if you've just watch some Olsen twin movie or something. Genevive Tessier, who plays Sam, is the most darling little girl I've ever seen. Kelsey Grammer plays one of his best roles yet. If you don't see any other movie, see this one. It'll have you laughing out loud and it'll make you feel good too. Take my word for it.

Relatively enjoyable family film with an inept film score.

[miyamoto · 5/10 · 2 February 1999]

the film would have been enhanced by a better musical score. At times, the score worked against the mood of the film. And at other times, was silent when some mood cue was required.

A very uneven film that just about has enough going for it to make it worth a look

[bob the moo · 25 May 2005]

Howard Spitz is a writer of gritty detective thrillers; problem is more people have been on the moon than actually buy his books and the debts are piling up. Bitter and angry, he has a revelation when he meets Theodora Winkle – an author of children's books who sells millions of simple books at $9 each. Spitz cannot believe it could be so simple to print cash and decides to bash out a book about "Crafty Cow", get it printed and watch the money roll in. Reading books in the kids section of the library, he meets Samantha Kershaw who tells him all kids love the books and off he goes. However when his first draft is a gritty detective thriller featuring a dead cow he returns to the library and asks for Samantha's help in writing the book. In return he tells her he will look for her father – who left Sam's mother before she was born. Everything is simple until he finds out that he will have to meet the children his books sell to.

Late one night in the UK, this film was screened on terrestrial television and several of the top reviewers on IMDb settled down to watch it – namely MovieCritic and Theo; what was this classic you ask? Well "The Real Howard Spitz". And what a rather uneven affair it is too, in many regards. When you look at the basic premise it sounds good and parts of the film are funny and enjoyable; but the plot is cluttered with some ideas that don't work as well as others and it makes the film feel rather messy and full of as many good moments as average/weak moments. Generally it is enjoyable but it is a very uneven film that requires you to be a bit forgiving and undemanding. The direction strangely matches this feel; mostly it is straightforward but it also throws in lots of strange angles and uses weird lenses occasionally – it doesn't take a great deal away from the film but it doesn't add anything either (although some of the camera work was pretty cool). Also, as others have seen, the use of music was strange as well.

The performances are mixed. Personally I thought Grammar was pretty good – a nice step away from his usual Fraiser character but yet still with a similar dark wit to him that works. Donohue could have been anybody and was unmemorable. Tessier was pretty much an annoyingly cute kid but what makes her performance good is that her and Grammar have chemistry and go together pretty well. The support cast are so-so, not making a great impression at any point without really being "bad"; but the film is Grammar's and I enjoyed him.

Overall this is a mixed and uneven affair that just about did enough to entertain me. The ideas are mostly good but the scattergun feel to it doesn't help it work and it really could have done with being tighter and more fully developed. It is quite funny, quite interesting and quite engaging – not great, but distracting and different enough to be worth seeing.

a great film...

[black_dagger · 8/10 · 17 November 2004]

I'd be the first to admit that, at times, this had a preety corny storyline. Some of the jokes are predictable, and some scenes seem longer then they had to be.

But, taking these minor points away, you have a great film.

The acting from the adult cast was acceptable (except from kelsey grammar, who, as in all his roles, played it perfectly). The acting from the child cast was remarkable. I could only name you one GOOD child star (And i'm definitely not talking about Mary Kate or Ashley...) but after watching this, i may have to change my outlook that all child screen actors are hopeless.

This is a great film...there are no explosions, hardly any swearing, and the death scene was strangely cut out...so you can see why this may not have been well received. This isn't a life altering film, but i like it anyway...

a minor gem

[piotr-3 · 16 February 1999]

A very original, iconoclastic comedy about a failed pulp fiction writer (Kelsey Grammer) who tries to make it big in the kiddie book business. He enlists the help of a precocious little girl (Genevieve Tessier) and falls in love with her mother (Amanda Donohoe). Grammer and Tessier have great chemistry together, and the little moppet steals every scene she's in. An amazing mixture of odd-ball satire and warm sentimentality, this is a minor gem that seems to have fallen between the cracks of the film distribution system.

You should see this movie with your children :-)

[jorgemariocorre-71-734391 · 10/10 · 3 August 2014]

I love it! When I hear the English of this movie I can't help continuing watching this movie. The little girl is cute and smart and a wonderful actress for me. The music is great: Jazz, kinda Broadway Musical and rap, the movie includes rap, I wonder where can I find the original soundtrack and the video of the animated rap. Some scenes are really funny, I enjoy this movie a lot. The 80's style is something that makes me remember part of my life. I think this movie could be part of the inspiration of the successful movie: Despicable Me. The movie teach the importance of be real and tell the truth.

I give 10 out of 10 to this movie.