review: BILL / BILL ON HIS OWN

BCI/Eclipse  //  Buy from Amazon.com Based on a true story, Mickey Rooney portrays Bill, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man with an I.Q. of 50, unable to read or write, living in the brutal rough and tumble of New York City. He must learn the ways of the city or face going back to the institution in which he spent a better part of his life in. Barry Morrow (Dennisn Quaid), an amateur documentary filmmaker, befriends and enables Bill to learn about family and true friendship. Edie McClurg costars. The sequel, Bill On his Own, also starring Rooney, continues the tale of courage, strength, and understanding as the generous and sensitive Bill becomes independent and self-sufficient. I'm sure that I haven't seen "Bill" in over 20 years, but it's managed to keep a hold on my memories much like "Savannah Smiles" has done - both schmaltzy tv movies that tug on the heart strings and are absolutely products of the early 80s. Sitting down to revisit a childhood memory is always a dicey affair, as one seens the world - and cinema - far differently in their 30s as they did as a child, and quite often the films I held so dear turn out to be turds not worth the money I spent to own the DVD. Thankfully, "Bill" came to me for review, so even if I ended up disappointed, it didn't cost me anything but my time. Thankfully, "Bill" ain't no turd, and manages to hold up fairly well. Sure, it's absolute 80s cheese through and through, and I'm not sure if they could have cast a bigger ham actor for the titular role than Mr. Mickey Rooney, but to me, he is Bill, and this is unequivocally his defining role (then again, I think "The Black Stallion" is the only other one of his 498 movies that I've ever seen - dude is oooooold!) It's a bit heavy-handed with the almost non-PC storyline, and this one absolutely plays up like a movie of the week, but I think that's part of its charm - movies like these aren't made anymore, and in all honesty, if they were, I wouldn't watch them. "Bill" is a product of its age and will always hold that childhood charm for me. "Bill on His Own," however, is a turd, and the less said about this weak-assed, rehashed sequel, the better. However, you can't complain about 2 films for the price of one, so even if it stinks, I'll take it. Video Presented in their original fullscreen (4:3) aspect ratios, both films look decent, but not stellar, with a few scratches visible here & there. Audio Dolby stereo mixees for both are decent and do the trick. Extras not a one Closing Thoughts Heart-warming class (plus its sequel) + no extras = worth a Sunday afternoon viewing