Max Keeble's Big Move is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Tim Hill, starring Alex D. Linz.
Plot
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
Max Keeble (Alex D. Linz) is a seventh grade junior high school paperboy who has a huge crush on Jenna (Brooke Anne Smith), the daughter of one of his paper recipients.
He is antagonized by the corrupt megalomaniacal school principal, Elliot T. Jindrake (Larry Miller), resident bullies Troy McGinty and Dobbs (Noel Fisher and Orlando Brown), and the Evil Ice Cream Man (Jamie Kennedy).
Max also learns that an animal shelter he visits is being closed down to build Jindrake's opulent football stadium. When his father, Donald (Robert Carradine) reveals that he is moving to Chicago for his boss because he is unable to stand up for himself, Max realizes that he can do whatever he wants to Jindrake, Troy, Dobbs and the Evil Ice Cream Man, facing no consequences because he will be gone by then.
Enlisting his equally socially outcast friends, Robe and Megan (Josh Peck and Zena Grey), pranks include traumatizing Troy by playing the main theme song of the fictional children's television show, MacGoogle the Highlander Frog (which frightened him as a child), trapping him in the gym with a MacGoogle suit wearer, instigating a fight between Dobbs and the Evil Ice Cream Man by stealing the coolant coil for the ice cream truck and Dobbs's handheld device and ruining Jindrake's chances of becoming superintendent to replace the current superintendent, Crazy Legs (Clifton Davis), by planting animal pheromones within his breath spray, instigating a food fight in the cafeteria & later by sabotaging his announcements by placing a cardboard cutout of Max pointing at him claiming that he was wearing a thong.
After his missions are completed, Max ends up ditching Robe and Megan's going away party by accepting an invitation to Jenna's milkshake party, causing a falling out. Taking Max's earlier advice to heart, Don announces that he quit his job and started his own business, meaning that Max is not moving after all.
Max freaks out at this news and learns that other students at his school are suffering because of his actions. He states that no matter who you are, you can always stand up for yourself.
Max confronts Jindrake, Troy and Dobbs one final time and with the help of other students at his school, Max eventually defeats Troy & Dobbs for good by throwing them into the dumpster and stops Jindrake from demolishing the animal shelter, which later gets him fired for fiddling with the school budget.
The film ends when Max rides on his bicycle delivering newspapers around his neighborhood and the Evil Ice Cream Man starts pursuing him once again.
Cast
- Alex D. Linz as Max Keeble
- Josh Peck as Robe
- Zena Grey as Megan
- Larry Miller as Principal Elliot T. Jindrake
- Jamie Kennedy as the Evil Ice Cream Man
- Noel Fisher as Troy McGinty
- Orlando Brown as Dobbs
- Robert Carradine as Donald Keeble
- Nora Dunn as Lily Keeble
- Brooke Anne Smith as Jenna
- Justin Berfield as Caption writer
- Tony Hawk as himself (cameo)
- Lil' Romeo as himself (cameo)
- Marcus Hopson as Pizza Parlor guy (cameo)
- Clifton Davis as Superintendent Bobby "Crazy Legs" Knebworth
- Amy Hill as Ms. Phyllis Rangoon
- Amber Valletta as Ms. Dingman
- Veronica Alicino as Mrs. Talia
- Dennis Haskins as Mr. Kohls
- Chely Wright as Mrs. Styles
Production
"Max Keeble's Big Move" was filmed from February to June of 2001. The majority of the filming took place in Los Angeles & Pasadena, California.
The school scenes were shot at the Marshall Fundamental Secondary School in Pasadena, California.
The scene at the soda shop was shot in Northridge, Los Angeles, California and the scenes at the animal shelter were filmed in Reseda, Los Angeles, California.
Reception
Box Office
"Max Keeble's Big Day" debuted at #6 at the box office, grossing $5,377,958 during its opening weekend, ranking behind films Zoolander (which was at #4 and Joy Ride (which was at #5).
Domestically, the film grossed $17,294,293 and $18,634,654 worldwide.
Critical Reception
"Max Keeble's Big Move" was a box office bomb.
Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the film a 26% "rotten" rating on its site. The consensus states that the film is "fun for kids, but bland and unoriginal for adults".
Roger Ebert gave the film two stars, saying the film was "more like an after-school Nickelodeon romp, with bright colors, broad jokes, lots of sight gags, characters landing in deep wet puddles and a plot assembled from off-the-shelf parts."
The New York Times says the film relied on "loud music, explanatory voice-over narration and flung food to mask storytelling defects and unoriginal physical comedy."
The San Francisco Gate said, "A movie like this depends on clever bits and incidents, but there's little invention here to disguise the film's formulaic nature."
Accolades
Young Artist Awards
- Brooke Anne Smith: Best Performance in a Feature Film-Supporting Young Actress (won)
- Justin Berfield: Best Performance in a Feature Film-Supporting Young Actor (nominated)
Theatrical Trailer
Max Keeble's Big Move Trailer