Mom is a Secret Agent!

Mom is a Secret Agent!

After an hour my 14yo daughter told me the movie was boring, the characters weren't t interesting, and the leads have no chemistry or charisma. Then she opened her laptop and played Sims for awhile. I asked my 17yo daughter if she wanted to watch the rest. She said "nah, I am going to do some homework." So I shut the movie off, made some English muffin pizzas for all of us, and I spent the next couple hours watching food reviews on YouTube.

You know what is an absolutely fantastic film? Groundhog Day. Funny, intelligent, thought-provoking, real feeling characters, and a well made plot line. All things missing from this film. You see, there's a "time loop", and our protagonists are stuck in it. It's a fine pretense, but it's mostly done in a very dull / "been there done that" sort of way, like even the characters themselves are mostly unimpressed by the situation they are in. (Hollywood side note: As I'm sure it's not lost on some people, this film shares shocking similarities to a film that came out just about a year before this one, "Palm Springs", that also has a "devil may care" lead woman character and joins the action midstream. Like Dante's Peak and Volcano coming out the same year, or Deep Impact and Armageddon, apparently the same "repeating day" script was floating around Hollywood at the same time.) Much like last year's "Palm Springs", no attempt is made to cash in on the instant comedy and drama that would be built into someone discovering their day is repeating as it happened, instead we join the action midstream, like you get the idea they've been doing this already hundreds of times, or more. It helps catch you up on the story quickly, but it's lazy, and the characters seem mostly unphased by it all. What's even more lazy is when you find out the "cause" of the repetition. I won't go into all of it here, but It makes zero sense in an already nonsensical plot, like, is the lead actress just a god or something? Oh wait, it's because she's "good at math". Okay? Anyway, the entire plot is actually just an excuse for a very corny, teeniebopper cringe romance. I love the concept of time loop films, but this one was just absolutely the path of least resistance, as if whoever wrote it couldn't be bothered it make sense of it all, so they just don't. It's dumb.

Some cute fun and games at the start but ultimately it fails because there's no story here. After twenty minutes I'm wondering if the story will ever start, but it doesn't.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a fun film with amazing stunts, a heart-warming teenage love story, a time loop and even a really cool 4-D cube drawing! The idea in this story of having infinite do-overs to create the perfect day is fascinating. Putting it all together, this film is a great combination of action, light romance, adventure, and comedy. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things features Mark (Kyle Allen) who gets stuck in a time loop and is living the same day over and over again. Every night at midnight, he falls asleep and wakes up with the previous day starting over again. In the mist of the time loop, one day he meets a mysterious girl named Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who is stuck in the same time loop. They end up on an adventure all around the city finding the "tiny things" that make up that one perfect day, while trying to decide if and how to break the time loop. I enjoyed watching Mark and Margaret's friendship develop and all the wild things they do without suffering consequences since they are in the time loop, like drive a tractor down the street. My favorite part is when they completely trash a model home, knowing the time loop would put it back the way it was. Another part I love is when Mark shows his dad the tattoo he got. It's funny because he shows it to his dad right before he goes back into the time loop so his dad won't remember. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things has some really great stunts in it, too. One stunt I thought was cool was when Mark throws his water bottle at a closing door and makes it through! The message of this film is that sometimes the most perfect things in life may be the smallest things. One great lesson Mark's character shows is how to care about others. I loved seeing him remember all the ways he can help people in his town each day and spread kindness. A couple of things adults should look out for in this film include places with Margaret drinking and mild cursing. I rate The Map of Tiny Perfect Things 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 10 to 18 years old. Adults will like it, too. Reviewed by Tiana S., KIDS FIRST!

This little movie ticks all the checkboxes for me. Beautiful picture, good actors, likeable characters, indie music, great score, interesting long takes. You'll have good time if you just want to relax and watch something sweet and inoffensive.

Movie got off to a slow start and I didn't feel any chemistry between the leads at the beginning but it developed into a poignant and very sweet story. The end was a little unhooked and didn't quite resolve things but it was still pretty enjoyable.

The characters in this film have real charm. It does not drag on like expected and wraps itself into a very amazing film. Its warm heart raises it above other films inspired by great concepts in other amazing films. Its very witty, beautifully shot and heart wrenchingly honest.

Seriously?! Gee - where have we seen this one before...?! Hollywood is truly absent of any writers with original ideas. We see great classics politically correct "updated", so writers can justify their lack of skills, and in the mean time, corrupt and flood the industry with terrible vids. This one is boring and painful to watch.

Was really pleasantly surprised by this film. Clicked on it expecting to turn it off after 15 minutes, and found myself drawn in and charmed by the simplicity of observations about what makes life and relationships and hope and momentum meaningful. Thank you to all who contributed to making this film. Time well spent. 😊