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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Lightyear Video
Salesrank: 126273
Released: June 10, 2008 |
| Our Price: $2.90 |
| Used Price: $2.25 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Mild-mannered computer consultant Norman Neale has two great loves in this cruel world: Comic books and his office's effervescent main receptionist, Andrea Hicks. Norman spends his days dreaming of Andrea from the isolation of his cubicle and his nights dreaming of fighting crime from the solitude of his apartment. Then one fateful day Norman discovers that a fellow co-worker, Victor Ventura, a swaggering, pretty-boy salesman, has slight telekinetic abilities beyond his understanding. After discussing his mind-blowing discovery with his only friend Chuck, a know-it-all comic book store owner, Norman comes to the outlandish conclusion that he should train Victor to become a real-life superhero by helping him refine and expand his extraordinary ability. Norman envisions an exciting new future for himself battling the city's criminal elements as Victor's faithful sidekick. But as Victor grows in power Norman is faced with the heartbreaking realization that not all people with extraordinary abilities are meant to be heroes.
Sidekick Reviews:
UNBREAKABLE Meets HANCOCK With a Little Bit of HEROES Thrown In For Good Measure 
2008-10-22 - Norman Neale (Perry Mucci) is the IT person at an up and rising corporation. He's kind of shy, gets nervous around women, doesn't drink very much, and collects comic books. He's a regular lonely, nerdy nice guy. While at work and videotaping a company softball game he notices that one of co-workers, Victor Ventura (David Ingram) seems to have super abilities. Norman decides to confront Victor about his suspicions, but Victor won't listen. It isn't until a tragic accident that Victor seems to come to his senses and seeks out Norman's assistance. Norman sees in the Victor the potential of the superhero he has always wanted to be and hopes that in training Victor he can become his sidekick. But Norman doesn't realize that everyone doesn't view the world so selflessly as he does.
SIDEKICK is an independent, low-budget superhero movie with a twist. If I was pitching the film to someone I would say that it's kind of like UNBREAKABLE mixed with HANCOCK and a little bit of the television series HEROES mixed in. Of course those movies and television show have a much larger budget than SIDEKICK and look very slick. But what SIDEKICK lacked in budget, it attempted to make up for in plot. The overarching structure of the film is quite interesting and the pacing of the movie is well focused. I don't want to give away the twists of the movie, but I was surprised how things turned out in the end. There were several places that the movie could have taken a completely different direction and followed the clichés, but instead it goes down a different path than expected offering something fresh and original. The acting isn't Oscar worthy, but it's not all that bad either. The core characters felt grounded and realistic, though there were times that I felt I was watching actors "acting" instead of just watching their characters.
SIDEKICK is a low-budget feature, so the production values aren't top-notch. However, if that doesn't bother you very much and you have an interest in seeing a superhero movie turned inside out, SIDEKICK is worth checking out. It's also got Danny Baldwin (the troublemaker of the Baldwin brothers) in a supporting role.
Horrendous 
2008-09-20 - Sidekick is the type of movie that baffles you. The screen play is awful, the script is even worse, and the acting is horrendous. You simply cannot watch the movie without thinking, "how did the creators not know that the acting was off the scale bad?"
Every word and facial expression by every actor seems over done, over dramatic, and off key.
Watch it if you must, but you have been warned.
As to the 5 star review...it is not a family movie. There are drunken bar guys lifting up the skirt of a woman at a bar, swearing, etc. Please don't listen to the other review and get this for your family.
Great Family Movie 
2008-09-04 - This is a really good movie for the family it takes the Super Hero Genre and does something different with it. In some ways it reminds me of Hancock.
