The Wizard (film)
| The Wizard | |
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Promotional poster
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| Directed by | Todd Holland |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | David Chisholm |
| Starring | |
| Music by | J. Peter Robinson |
| Cinematography | Robert D. Yeoman |
| Edited by | Tom Finan |
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Production
companies |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $14.3 million |
The Wizard is a 1989 American adventure comedy-drama film directed by Todd Holland, written by David Chisholm, and starring Fred Savage, Christian Slater, Jenny Lewis, Beau Bridges and Luke Edwards. It was also Tobey Maguire's film debut.
The film follows three children as they travel to California. The youngest of the three is emotionally withdrawn with a gift for playing video games. The Wizard is famous for its numerous references to video games and accessories for the Nintendo Entertainment System and has been called a feature-length commercial. The film was also well known for being North America's introduction to what would become one of the best-selling video games of all time, Super Mario Bros. 3. Over time, the film has gained somewhat of a cult following.
Jimmy Woods is a young boy who has suffered from an unnamed, but serious mental disorder ever since his twin sister Jennifer drowned in the Green River two years earlier. He does not interact with anyone, spending most of his time building things out of blocks or boxes, and he always carries his lunch box with him. He is determined to go to "California", at first nearly the only word he can say since the tragedy. The trauma of the drowning and Jimmy's condition have broken up his family; he lives with his mother Christine Bateman and stepfather, while his half-brothers Corey and Nick live with their father Sam. When Jimmy is put into an institution, Corey breaks him out and runs away with him to California. Christine and her husband hire Putnam, a greedy and sleazy runaway-child bounty hunter, to bring back only Jimmy; he competes with Sam and Nick to find the boys, and both groups sabotage each other's efforts, resulting in chaotic confrontations.
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Wikipedia