Despite being the heir to a small fortune Baby Bink has never had his picture in the paper like other rich babies. However his mother hires a famous photographer to take his picture. However when the photographers arrive they are actually kidnappers who steal away baby Bink and demand a ransom. However Baby Bink manages to slip out of their sight and begins a journey through the city of his story book. The kidnappers try to catch him but seem to be always one step behind.
John Hughes won't be remembered in the same way as great' filmmakers will be - but like it or not, he knows how to do this type of film with his eyes closed. This never gets above the same cartoon humour of Home Alone, but it still manages to be very funny. The story is daft - the baby going through the city by recognising things from his story book, however the cartoon humour is very good throughout. Some scenes (with the worried mother) and the ending can't help but lapse into sentiment, but for the most part it's sheer comedy antics.
The reason the comedy works is not due to the baby - he is cute but he never dominates the way Mulcaly Culkin did, instead he haplessly crawls his way around using `baby luck'. What makes it work are three really funny performances from the kidnappers. One of my favourite actors Joe Mantegna is usually above this type of stuff, but he's really funny here. Similarly Joe Pantoliano has been in his share of blockbusters and is funny here with Haley. The support cast has it's fair share of famous faces - Boyle is lumbered with all the emotional scenes and Matthew Glave (The Wedding Singer) doesn't have much to do. An uncredited Mike Starr as an informant, Fred Dalton Thompson as the cop, Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) as the nanny and Anna Levine (Bad Boys, Unforgiven, The Crow) as an understanding mother make interesting appearances. However when the kidnappers are off the screen things aren't as good and start to drag.
Overall you know what to expect from this. If you're in the mood for Tom & Jerry style cartoon humour (as opposed to Jerry & Tom humour - Mantegna fans will understand!) then this is a really good laugh. Simple, unmemorable but fun!
