ma-cortes On his ninth birthday a young boy (Hal Scardino) named Omri (it means "The Lord is my life" and was the name of a Hebrew king whose story is told in I Kings 16) receives various presents from his parents (Richard Jenkins , Lindsay Crouse) and brothers . Two of them first seem to be less important : an old cupboard -a wooden medicine cabinet - from his brother and a little Indian figure made of plastic . Then there happens the biggest adventure of his childhood , the magical cupboard brings his toy action figures to life and Omri watches him become flesh and blood ; there also appear a soldier (Steve Coogan) from WWII . Three-inch plastic Indian named Little Bear (Lifefoot) undertaking several adventures and teaching him important lessons . Thing go worse , however , when the boy's best friend brings a toy gunfighter (David Keith) to life and pursuit starts . Events turn nasty and might be frightened for young children , by some scenes involving a rather vicious mouse .Enjoyable and well-intentioned film plenty of good feeling , marvelous adventure , fantasy and sense of wonder . This is a nice movie with heart that amuses and has something to tell . The picture is pretty good but suffers of claustrophobic scenario , as it is mostly set in room , exception some brief scenes in courtyard . Intelligent as well as sensitive screenplay by Melissa Matheson , Harrison Ford's real-life first wife , based on the best-selling children's book by Lynne Reid Banks who wrote her original novel as a bedtime story for her son , Omri . Cool special effects , as blue screen techniques allow them to appear together-on-screen although they were really filmed together only once . Emotive as well as evocative musical score by Randy Edelman . Colorful and adequate cinematography by Russell Carpenter . The motion picture well produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall was professionally directed by Frank Oz , though he stated he was reluctant to direct this movie, as he doesn't think he's a children's director. Frank began forming team with the great Jim Henson filming known titles such as ¨The Dark Crystal¨ and ¨Muppets take Manhattan¨. Frank subsequently directed a lot of comedies as ¨Little shop of horrors¨, ¨Dirty rotten scoundrels¨, ¨What about Bob?¨, ¨House sitter¨, ¨In and out¨, ¨Bowfinger¨and a thriller titled ¨The score¨. And this ¨Indian in cupboard¨, it results to be one of his most sensitive films . Rating : 6'5/10 . Better than average . Well worth watching .

gannont On this one, I am surprised that viewers are so critical as to miss the big picture of the magical moments and concepts of the movie. I agree, there are quite a few flaws overall, but some are just direction or editing oversights. However, this film deserves to be recognized as a really good family film as is. There are so many good "teaching moments" for parents regarding what kids go through growing up. The effects were well done for the time, playing the small vs. big people visuals. I was absorbed in the story well beyond picking on every detail. Omri was decent, not great, but believable as the kid star; the casting and scripting both for Little Bear are compelling, fascinating, and wonderful. I would recommend this film to almost anyone, if their reality can be suspended for 96 minutes. It is a great story, if only a good film. Entertaining and more gripping than many films since.

akalite_libra The movie about a boy who finds a cupboard, that once you put in an action figure or doll, they came to life. I searched high and low for one, and darn it, I never found it. I gave up, or did I? Lol, don't think I'm being serious. I use to love this movie. I still do. Sadly, our copy was sold at our garage sale when we moved out of our home in Canby. But, I'm not getting the DVD. Want to know why? Well, I saw it for the last time when I was 10, or so. I had to cover my mouth from restraining my laughter. I had never realized how bad the acting is. There is one scene where the lead character is panicking because his secrete is about to be exposed. I laughed. I laughed hard. I said goodbye to my copy, and I haven't looked back. I loved it, but I may only get it for when I start teaching. It's not really a movie I would want to watch by myself. At least, not anymore.

judy mooney The only redeeming part of this movie is after he rescues the Indian from under the floorboards with the key, and then the rat jumps out, as if from nowhere!! I always rewind it at least 4 times. But only that part. This movie is very strange though, because this would never happen. I did always like the movie box when i was a child though, because you could switch it from the picture of the little boy to the fake cupboard door, and i got a key with it. How delightful. All in all, I would not recommend this movie for you to watch, because there are many better movies available for your viewing pleasure. A movie that I would recommend that still has a magical feel to it would be the 1976 version of Freaky Friday. Because magical things happen in this movie as well as that movie, but the Freaky Friday movie is much more enjoyable.