Olly, Olly, Oxen Free

This is the worst movie I remember watching as a kid. I can distinctly recall the time my family hired this film on video, and me and my brother begged my parents half-way through to PLEASE let us go outside and play and not have to watch this b-o-r-i-n-g story. They finally relented. I'm a bit regretful now that I know who classic actress Katherine Hepburn is, but I still rank this as the most ponderous children's story I've ever had to watch. It's the kind of movie that gives family films a bad name.

As I was watching the eye-rolling "Olly, Olly, Oxen Free", I got the feeling that Katharine Hepburn felt uncomfortable in it. The role probably embarrassed her. It's just a big attempt to be cute, one that comes out irritating. The Pixar movie "Up" did a far better and cleverer job with the topic. I haven't seen all of Hepburn's movies, but I'll go out on a limb and say that this was probably her worst. To riff on the movie's tag-line, if this is what dreams are made of, then there are only nightmares. Having gotten released in the same year as "The Deer Hunter", "Coming Home", "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Animal House", "The Boys from Brazil", "Every Which Way But Loose" and "Superman" only further weakens the movie. Just avoid it.

My children & I got to see it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Katherine Hepburn is marvelous, and the two kids are wonderful. The scenes with the hot-air balloon are really fun to watch. The relationship between Ms. Hepburn's relationship with the young boys is touching as it grows. The scenes over and in the Hollywood Bowl are great... I enjoyed the way the scenes were shot and staged. My children, (boy & girl), loved the old car that Ms. Hepbrun drove, as well as the old English Sheepdog that was the boys' companion. To top it off, the film boasts of a great music score!