Jack et le haricot magique

"Beanstalk" is, of course, a live-action version of "Jack and the Beanstalk". The only thing of any substantial interest is the performance of Margot Kidder. She is so loopy in this film that it is downright disturbing. Kidder takes on the role of a mad scientist/archaeologist with reckless abandon. She truly seems a bit unhinged.

The two main child actors are Patrick Renna and J.D. Daniels. Daniels plays the title role of Jack with all of the emotion of a banana. Renna is more experienced and does a decent job. It doesn't matter, though, because he is trapped in a hellishly awful movie.

The story is too dumb even for kids to enjoy. Richard Moll plays a banker who wants to foreclose on the whole town, tear down all the buildings, and fill the entire area with water. The plan is to make a mint by owning pricy lakefront property. Umm...okay. Anyway, for reasons I won't go into, a giant beanstalk grows in someone's backyard and a couple of kids climb all the way up it to see what's at the top. I was personally hoping they would find a better script up there but they didn't.

One more thing...the scene towards the end featuring the giant stomping around the small town has to be seen to be believed. Give Roger Corman a hundred bucks and even he probably could've come up with something more believable. It's that bad. 1/10