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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Walt Disney Video
Salesrank: 12748
Released: May 30, 2000 |
| Our Price: $8.37 |
| Used Price: $5.75 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
This dazzling comic fantasy stars popular Lindsay Lohan (THE PARENT TRAP) and top fashion model Tyra Banks (HIGHER LEARNING) in a delightfully entertaining tale of a young girl's toy that turns out to be a truly living doll! Sad and lonely after the death of her mother, Casey (Lohan) would do anything to see her again. But when a series of mystic mishaps mistakenly bring her fasion doll "Eve" (Banks) to life instead, it changes Casey's world forever! Heartwarming and lots of fun, the magical story of this happy accident captures a spirit your family will want to relive again and again!
Description of Life-Size:
Unhappy and lonely after her mother's death, Casey (Lindsay Lohan) attempts to resurrect her mother, but a minor mishap changes the results of her spell and brings an unwanted doll named Eve (Tyra Banks) to life instead. Eve is elated when she first encounters the smells and flavors of real life, but is shocked to realize that she's not the perfect role model she's always considered herself to be. Casey initially despises Eve--she never wanted this doll in the first place and now she's ruined her chances of bringing her mother back to life. But as Eve grows, she brings out the best in Casey, encouraging her to renew old friendships and spurring personal growth and healing. Even Casey's father (Jere Burns) rises above his grief and builds a better relationship with his daughter as a result of his interaction with Eve. This is an entertaining, 89-minute video that juxtaposes the stresses and disappointments of the real world, with their accompanying potential for personal growth, against what initially appears to be a stereotypically idyllic world. What makes the movie powerful is its suggestion that that ideal world is inherently flawed. Performances by Lindsay Lohan (The Parent Trap), supermodel Tyra Banks (Higher Learning), and Jere Burns (television's Something So Right) are very good. The story, while based on a fairly unreal premise, successfully explores some very real issues facing kids today. --Tami Horiuchi
Life-Size Reviews:
enjoyable, but Catholics and christians should be a bit cautious 
2009-07-12 - Our whole family enjoyed this light film that deals with the real pain of loss in a family, while simultaneously raising - possibly for the first time for children - the question of: what does it mean to be human?
The first thing I had to tell my children when we were watching this together is "this is just silly....this isn't real, it is just a story, but let's try to find out what the story is trying to say..." The plot follows the adventures of sad and self-isolating Casey (Lindsay Lohan) a few years after her mother's death (never explained, only a "check up" and then a swift decline is alluded to)who attempts to resurrect her mother, but instead brings an unwanted doll named Eve (Tyra Banks) to life. Eve is delighted to encounter use of her skin and senses but eventually realizes through a series of painfully obvious failures that she is not the perfect role model her manufacturers have created a fantasy of. Casey despises Eve and has eliminated any chance of bringing her mother back to life. But as Eve grows from her failures, she and Casey develop a dialogue about the human condition that paradoxically helps them both to "let go and grow." Casey's father (Jere Burns) has buried his grief in ambition at his workplace, where he hopes to be made partner, neglecting Casey. But again, Eve's presence forces him to make emotional choices and he begins to reconnect with his daughter.
The most mature theme - correctly in context for children - is the paradox of the pain, stress and disappointments of life, that simultaneously helps us to grow.
Jere Burns is correctly cast as a modern, hip, ambitious Dad, and successfully carries off the mixture of trying to encourage his daughter to accept her loss of her Mother, hile also obviously suppressing his own unresolved feelings on the episode as well.
Tyra Banks gives a stunning performance as a doll come to life (and life size) who exhibits the false confidence of the Dunning-Kruger Effect while meanwhile stumbling through real human tasks like a ditzy "blonde" cubed. I was very impressed by Ms. Banks performance, for she several times executes very well, and believably, what a doll might think of an ordinary human activity with a vague sense of comprehension, and fear of the unknown.
In her pre-wild child days Lindsey Lohan's appeal was obviously limited to the freckled red head tom boy stereotype so familiar in so many Disney films. Here she does a credible job.
Let me close with a full-disclosure and a discussion about one of the more troubling aspects of the film: Casey's use of witchcraft to resurrect her mother (instead bringing Eve to life). Disney films have "magic" in them frequently, scaling from cartoonish (Fantasia) to diabolical (Snow White). On that scale of order of one to ten to me this scores a six, but it is a bit difficult to see in a live action film.
We are a pious traditionalist Catholic family, and recognize that such a plot device could cause rejection of the film by fellow Catholics and observant pious Protestants alike. Based on my limited knowledge of "occult" practices Casey's "altar" and symbols and collection of significant objects, and spell casting book are all at a level of believability higher than the obvious cartoonishness of Disneyland's "Haunted Mansion." For me, for a light comedy, this was unnecessary. Yet, my children took little interest in this dimension of the plot, and in our discussion of the film afterwards both said it was "silly" and knew that it was just a made-up device to get the doll to "real life" so the story could be told.
My conclusion: it is all-in-all harmless, it was unnecessarily "real," but parents who actively discuss with their children about what it is they see should have no problem guiding them past this plot point. For those parents who just plop their kids in front of the tube and absorb whatever...well...there has probably already been too much damage already done for this to even register.
Corny and Cute! 
2009-05-07 - Life-size is a wonderful, over-looked family movie with several moments of laughter. If you like corny, but cute -- Life-size is for you!
Awesome Family Fun!!!
2009-04-20 - I recorded this on TV a few hours ago, and I'm glad I did because this movie is extremely funny and awesome and perfect for the whole family! Lindsay Lohan plays Casey Stuart, a young girl who tries to resurrect her mother. On her birthday, Casey receives a doll named Eve from Drew. When Drew tries to perform the ritual, he accidentally brings Eve to life. Eve is incredibly hot and doesn't know too much about the real world. Eve works for Casey's dad, but she messes everything up, and doesn't know what to do. If you love fish-out-of-water stories, you'll love LIFE SIZE!!!
*Good Movie For Everyone!*
2008-05-17 - This is a wonderful movie the whole family can enjoy.One to watch over and over.
GOTTA LOVE LINDSAY LOHAN =)
2007-04-11 - This movie is so cute and funny. I was suprised Tyra Banks acted so well. No suprise Lindsay did. Highly reccommend this movie. Your kids will love it. Also reccommend Lindsay's other movies...The Parent Trap, Get A Clue, Freaky Friday, Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen, Mean Girls, Herbie Fully Loaded, Just My Luck, A Prairie Home Companion and Bobby
