Savannah Smiles
Savannah Smiles is a family film written and produced by Mark Miller and released in theaters on 1982-04-09. In the film, a young girl named Savannah is largely ignored by her rich politics-driven family, so she runs away by hiding in the backseat of a random car. Unfortunately, the car was stolen by two low-level criminals who end up seeking a reward for her return, but, after growing an adoration for her, they refuse the money and just want to return her home safely without having to go back to prison.
Personal
I remember seeing this film at my aunt's house when I was still quite young. I liked the film, but didn't fully understand what was going on, and I remember thinking that Boots was the worse of the two criminals because he stole things, but my aunt rightfully corrected my ignorant morality by pointing out that Boots was the nicer of the two because he was genuinely kind, while Alvie was mean. After seeing that the Girl Scout cookie Savannah Smiles had been discontinued, it reminded me of this film, so I watched it again when I was 39. It isn't as good as an adult.
I don't own this film, but I have seen it multiple times.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Mark Miller | Alvie |
| Donovan Scott | Boots |
| Bridgette Andersen | Savannah |
| Chris Robinson | Richard Driscoll |
| Michael Parks | Lt. Savage |
| Peter Graves | Harland Dobbs |
| Barbara Stanger | Joan Driscoll |
| Pat Morita | Father Ohara |
| Philip Abbott | Chief Pruitt |
Review
— This section contains spoilers! —
Good
- The film has a lot of action which can keep kids interested, and the slapstick comedy, though juvenile, will be appreciated by younger viewers.
- I like that it shows Alvie's backstory of being mistreated which accounts for his angry selfish ways.
- Bridgette Andersen is a competent child actor (the other children aren't as good).
Bad
- The film is far too sickly-sweet. It depicts running away from home as something that is lots of fun, criminals all have hearts of gold, the police, despite being trigger happy, allow a heartfelt goodbye between Savannah and the criminals, etc. This is expected in children's films, so I'm not too bothered by it.
- The titular song is pretty cheesy.
- Chocolate is toxic to dogs, but the poor puppy is allowed to eat chocolate ice cream.
- Despite the agreement that they won't have to go to prison, you can tell that Boots and Alvie are going to be put away for serious hard time.
Ugly
- Nothing.
Media
Covers
Film poster.
US DVD cover.
Videos
Links
