Several factors work together to create it Baby Geniuses a joyless viewing experience. Let’s start with the premise, which is nothing more than a veiled excuse for the misuse of digital effects so that the mouths and actions of toddlers can imitate the mouths and actions of adults. The result: supposedly brilliant kids who spend their time parodying themselves Saturday Night Fever and thinking about “diaper dip”. The humor seems to be aimed primarily at a young audience, yet certain scenes are clearly inappropriate for them. After genius Sly escapes — by stowing away in a P. Oopie Bottoms diaper truck — he bites a homeless man and takes his clothes, then jumps into an unattended cart and tells the little girl inside, “Look, I’ve got a problem, take off your clothes.” “Okay, slime,” she says, “but at least you could take me out to dinner first.” A moment later he emerges from the cart in her clothes. “Call me,” she says.

To the film’s credit, it manages to make the kids seem at least as intelligent as the adults, but even there it has some help. Kathleen Turner, who by now must surely know what the bottom of the barrel tastes like, reaches for something akin to Glenn Close’s striking performance in 101 Dalmatiansbut her angry snarl is just embarrassing. There are many other keys in the works, one of which always hits master Dom DeLuise in the grape, but there’s no need to press the point. Suffice it to say that Bob Clark, who somehow also wrote and directed the funny and quirky 1983 movies. A Christmas Storyhe can suffer for his art as much as he likes; he doesn’t have to drag us into it.