Zits

Zits is not a bad film. If graded on a curve, just for younger kids, it might warrant 7 stars out of 10 instead of 5.

A group of 13-year-old Americans raise money to pay for their music teacher's eye operation by selling fake military plans to the Soviets. The hijinks that ensue, as both governments try to find out who the spy is, are not horribly unbelievable. The weakest point is the idea that anyone would pay for plans that kids draw up from plastic models. Their parents are mostly high muckety-mucks in various military and civilian government jobs, but the obvious, more realistic approach to obtaining secret information would have required a level of criminality that would have significantly changed the tone of the film. So Zits is not bad for what it is.

The young actors, ranging in age from 10 to 15, do a very credible job. And one can only wish that all kids were as nice as the characters they play. The turmoil of puberty is portrayed with gentility, not Hallmark-squeaky-clean, but unlikely to offend most viewers.

Zits was fun to watch. It's the film equivalent of an easy read, but even adults can enjoy it.