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      The Good Son

      R Released Sep 24, 1993 1h 27m Mystery & Thriller TRAILER for The Good Son: Trailer 1 List The Good Son: Trailer 1 The Good Son: Trailer 1 2:09 View more videos
      25% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 54% Audience Score 50,000+ Ratings Mark (Elijah Wood), a young boy who loses his mother, must stay with his extended family while his father is away on business. Mark becomes acquainted with his cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin). However, the extent of Henry's depravity becomes clear when Mark sees him kill a neighbor's dog and intentionally create a traffic pileup on the highway. After a supposed mishap on an icy pond with Henry's sister Connie (Quinn Culkin), Mark tries to reveal Henry's crimes before it's too late. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

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      Critics Consensus

      The Good Son is never good enough to live up to its unsettling potential, failing to drum up much suspense and unable to make Macaulay Culkin a credible psychopath.

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      Critics Reviews

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      Brian Lowry Variety This peculiar thriller doesn't deliver enough jolts to leave the audience screaming. Jul 25, 2007 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader There's wonderful use made of a Maine port town, and Ruben gets a dizzying thrill or two out of overhead shots, but the conceptual overload finally prevents this from coming together. Jul 25, 2007 Full Review Derek Adams Time Out A summer camp classic. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...sporadically watchable yet mostly (and curiously) inert... Rated: 2/4 Aug 10, 2022 Full Review Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant Unhappily, although Ian McEwan's screenplay has its strong points, and Ruben skillfully builds tension and suspense, this updated, gender-bent Bad Seed falters at key points. Jun 6, 2018 Full Review Barbara Shulgasser Common Sense Media Creepy '90s thriller about murderous kid has violence. Rated: 3/5 Sep 29, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Vincent R This movie was kind of like the Omen 2 except without the bloody kills. But anyway this movie in my opinion was very good with the twist and the turns that put you at the end of your seat. If they remade the Omen 2 back in the 90s I think they should have made Macaulay Culkin the older Damien. I loved everything about the movie and the acting was wondering great job to all the wonderful actors that played in this movie especially Macaulay Culkin as an evil child. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/24 Full Review Crystal C Honestly, I loved most of the movie. The ending is what really ruined it for me. It feels like they tried during the movie to have it make sense and be an interesting enough plot to follow, but when they got to the end it just felt rushed. Incomplete and disappointing in a way. It seems like maybe they wanted to leave it open for the option if making a sequel they just never got around to it. If the ending had been more thought out, and felt more finished it would have had great potential and been a great movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/14/23 Full Review Carolyn B Wood and Culkin do their best with this flawed thriller, if one can call it that. The suspense is there but it is entirely predictable. No, the problem with this film does not lay with the acting. Of note, some of the characters certainly are flat and boring or simply irritating (does anyone know how to write a decent and ethical therapist?) The young actors, however, are at least believable and varied in their delivery. Even enjoyable and masterfully disturbing at times. Apart from Culkins haircut, which is genuinely creepy, the evil of this film is in the maddening tonal dissonance. Are we expected to be happy that Woods character has just lost a loved a one? The score with its soft, swelling jollity certainly positions the viewer as if they supposed to be. The music may improve in matching the plot elements about half way through the runtime, but by then is it too late. One is already knee deep in wine and only along for the strange ride. Contrast this with the opening of The Shining, which makes a simple mountain drive seem a white knuckle experience, and one understands the lost potential in these entirely mismatched major chords. Watch if you want to scratch the curiosity itch. The film is not good by any means, but it is enjoyable and even rewatchable under the right conditions. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/12/23 Full Review Meydiana R Darkest movies ever. This was the darkest movie I've seen in my lifetime, I mean by darkest that the whole script of McCaulay Culkin playing role Henry were really scary and heartbeating the whole time. The fact that the story could be true is devastating. Still this movie is a one of a kind and one of the bests I recall seeing. 2 boys in this movie did make their lifetime best roles. And at the end, I'd make the same decision. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/29/23 Full Review Darth G While it my entertain others, this film hasn't got much for suspense and the characters aren't very developed. Not bad, just ok. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review damian l It was good and suspenseful Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Good Son

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Mark (Elijah Wood), a young boy who loses his mother, must stay with his extended family while his father is away on business. Mark becomes acquainted with his cousin Henry (Macaulay Culkin). However, the extent of Henry's depravity becomes clear when Mark sees him kill a neighbor's dog and intentionally create a traffic pileup on the highway. After a supposed mishap on an icy pond with Henry's sister Connie (Quinn Culkin), Mark tries to reveal Henry's crimes before it's too late.
      Director
      Joseph Ruben
      Producer
      Joseph Ruben, Mary Ann Page
      Screenwriter
      Ian McEwan
      Distributor
      Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
      Production Co
      Twentieth Century Fox
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Sep 24, 1993, Wide
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Mar 1, 2013
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $44.4M
      Runtime
      1h 27m
      Sound Mix
      Surround, Stereo
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