I’m not really sure how this film made it into the festival, but somehow it earned an “Official Selection” ,so yeah. It’s not a very long film and seems more like a marketing ploy by the community of Castle Hills, but what the heck, I watched it anyways.
Cooper and the Castle Hills Gang directed by Sam Ditore is a story about a group of neighborhood kids, led by 11-year-old Cooper (Kyle Kirk), who help out a longtime resident and friend, Mr. Wilson (Ouida White), by helping him find his wedding ring in Castle Hills. With only a handful of hours to complete the quest, Cooper must search every corner of the community, outsmart his sister and overcome his own pride to save the day.
The best way to describe this film would be a mash up of Mystery Team and Dennis the Menace. I don’t want to destroy this film because it has a bunch of kids acting in it and I get what they were trying to do. The movie is nothing more then a huge marketing ploy for the community of Castle Hills. It gives them a chance to show off their “little town” and all the “spectacular” ammenities it has to offer. If you are in marketing or advertising, then I recommend you watch the film because it’s a creative marketing campaign.
If you look past all the marketing stunts and focus on the story, it could potentially make for a decent early morning kids show if they could continue to come up with adventures for the gang. However, the film bombards you with some much pro Castle Hills, that you don’t get to enjoy the film. There really is no huge plot involved with the script but it has a inspirational message in the end and I feel young kids could really enjoy the film and characters.
Overall if you really want to see the film you can do so here, it’s 50 minutes long and who knows, you might want to move to Castle Hills and help them recover the $500,000 they spent making this film.
Rating: I really don’t think it deserves a rating, because this was just a huge marketing film that happened to have a little story attached to it. Best of luck to Kyle Kirk! (2/10)
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