Mac and Me (1988) Take Two

Back in April of 2015, I watched the 1988 classic bad movie Mac and Me.  It wasn’t the first time I had seen the film and it wouldn’t be the last.  The movie has gained notoriety for many reasons, some of which I will go over in the post that I am currently writing.  It is undeniably bad and fits right into the lineup of the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  Enough so that this is going to be the second time that I have watched it for the blog.

The reason for the rewatch is that this is the three year anniversary of the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  The posts began on December 2^nd 2012.  Each anniversary, I rewatch one movie that I have watched and write a second post for it.  Thanks to the new poll system on Twitter, I created a tournament that covered the movies I watched between Jack and Jill and Chasing Liberty.  One by one, movies were eliminated until Mac and Me stood on top.  It was the movie that I was meant to watch again.

Last time I wrote about Mac and Me, I wrote about some movies that I hadn’t yet covered.  I still have not covered any of those movies, but some have been scheduled for future Sunday “Bad” Movie weeks.  Showgirls is coming up in February, and soon after that will be Troll 2.  Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 was in the schedule until there was an issue and I swapped it out.  It will be in the schedule sometime in the future, however.

This time around, I want to get deeper into the movie.  I want to take a look at some of the things that make Mac and Me into the memorable movie that it is.  I also want to look at some of the things that have helped to put it into the minds of people who aren’t necessarily into bad movies.  The movie has been making a comeback in the cultural mindset to the point that more people are starting to recognize the movie than I can remember happening before.  I will go over why as well as some other stuff as I dive into Mac and Me for the second time in the Sunday “Bad” Movies.

The Story

If you have ever seen Mac and Me, you have noticed the similarities that it shares with another ‘80s movie, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.  Both movies are about a child who discovers an alien in his house.  In the case of E.T., the child is Elliott (Henry Thomas).  Mac and Me has Eric Cruise (Jade Calegory), a wheelchair bound child.  The children in each movie are from a fatherless family.  Elliott has an older brother and a younger sister.  Eric Cruise has an older brother and a slightly younger female neighbor.  Together, the children in their respective movies try to help the aliens evade the law enforcement officials that are after them.  In E.T., they try to get the alien home.  In Mac and Me, they try to get the alien reunited with its family.

The notable thing is that these are not two movies released within a year or two of each other with similar plots (I covered some movies of that type in my post for Chasing Liberty).  E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial came out in 1982.  That was six years before Mac and Me’s 1988 release.  There were six years in between the movies.  It wasn’t a coincidence that the two stories were so similar to each other.  Mac and Me was a blatant rip-off, trying to ape the story for a quick buck.  And it wasn’t a re-appropriation of the material either.  It was the same story with the same elements told in the same way.  That’s Mac and Me for you.

Product Placement

This isn’t the first time in the Sunday “Bad” Movies that product placement has been an overwhelming part of a movie.  I covered Foodfight! back in August 2015 and talked about Mr. Clean being used in the movie.  Mac and Me gets almost as blatant with their product placement as Foodfight!  In fact, the two movies are about even in how much product placement they shove in their audience’s view.

Some of this comes from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, of course.  The alien in that movie drank Coors (and got Elliott drunk) and ate Reese’s Pieces.  This was before the PG-13 rating existed, hence the alcohol in a movie that most people would think was geared towards children.  Mac and Me was released after that rating was introduced, and thus doesn’t have alcoholic beverages being advertised in the movie.  Instead, the alien drinks Coca-Cola, and the characters visit a McDonalds for an extended dance sequence.  Speaking of which…

The Dance Sequence

The kids in Mac and Me go to a McDonalds about two thirds of the way through the movie’s runtime.  Someone is having a birthday party there for whatever reason.  Mac wants to go with the children, so they dress him up in a teddy bear costume and bring him to the party.  He ends up becoming the life of the party, taking center stage during a dance sequence that feels very out of place.  All the while, the law enforcement people that are after Mac try and capture him at the McDonalds, only to be thwarted by the dancers.

There are a couple of notable things about this sequence.  First, the product placement is at its most apparent during this scene.  They are in a McDonalds.  They mention that a lot.  Who is there with them?  Ronald McDonald is in the McDonalds just hanging out with all the kids like clowns are prone to do.  The other notable thing is that there are two extras who would become stars in their own right.  Jennifer Aniston makes a blink and you’ll miss it appearance.  It’s so short that I didn’t notice it until it was pointed out to me.  Nikki Cox also makes an appearance that is much easier to find.  She is one of the primary dancers during the sequence.  A small girl in yellow who you would later find in the television shows Unhappily Ever After and Las Vegas.  Long before those shows, she was dancing at a McDonalds in Mac and Me.

Paul Rudd

The final thing I want to write about when it comes to Mac and Me is Paul Rudd.  No, Mr. Rudd is not in this movie.  He never has been in the movie.  He wasn’t cut out or anything.  But the resurgence of this movie’s popularity can be partially attributed to Paul Rudd’s rise to stardom.  The bigger star power that he has, the bigger this movie has become.  That is why I want to discuss Paul Rudd.

You see, Paul Rudd has a history with this movie.  The history involves Conan O’Brien.  I’m not sure when it started, but Paul Rudd has a history of going on whatever show Conan O’Brien is hosting (Late Night, The Tonight Show, or Conan) and playing the same clip from Mac and Me instead of what he is there to promote.  The clip involves Eric Cruise rolling down a hill and off of a cliff into some water.  Conan seemingly falls for it every time, expecting the joke to stop.  Then the clip plays and the audience goes wild.  I don’t know how popular the movie was before this joke began, but it lives in infamy now because of it.

Now that I’ve seen Mac and Me three times (once was long before it was ever scheduled for the Sunday “Bad” Movies), I can say that it is an interesting study in movies.  The fact that it relies so much upon another movie for story, while also pandering to some corporations that wanted their products featured makes it remarkable.  Mac and Me manages to be unique while lacking any sense of uniqueness.  It is good to know that people keep stumbling on this one because it has an important place in movie history.  It might not be the best.  It might not even be anywhere near the best.  But there is a place for it in movie history and it can help other filmmakers learn from its mistakes.  Everyone should see Mac and Me at least once in their life.

Everyone should read these notes as well:

•  Here's the original Mac and Me post.
• Throughout this post, I mentioned Jack and Jill, Foodfight!, and Chasing Liberty.
• Mac and Me was directed by Stewart Raffill who also directed Ice Pirates.
• Gary Brockette was in both Mac and Me and Ice Pirates.
• Another actor in Mac and Me was Jack Ong, who was in Leprechaunin the Hood.
• Have you seen Mac and Me?  What did you think of the movie?  Have you ever seen Paul Rudd make his joke with Conan O’Brien?  Do you find it funny?  What are your thoughts on product placement?  There is a comment section below if you want to discuss any of this.
• You can also use the comments section to suggest movies for me to watch in the future.  If you want to find me on Twitter and suggest a movie, you can do that as well.
• Next week’s movie is How the Toys Saved Christmas.  It’s animated and you’ve probably never heard of it.  Oh well.  That’s what I’m going to be watching.  See you next week.