Gooby (2009)

Thanks for the memories!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The first must-see film of the year.

Superb, Fantastic, Mind Blowing, Outstanding! Me and my family watched this movie and we couldn't stop cracking up! Despite the fact that my 10 year old daughter had nightmares for a few weeks, we still enjoyed laughing at her crying in the night. If you love your children, watch this movie by all means!The part that was the best was when Gooby died when the fluff was torn out of him my the family dog, Rufus. The great addition of the voice of popular giant Hagrid, really helped me feel that this bear is really really really big, like Hagrid.If you like romantic comedies, don't watch this, there's no romance. Squeaky clean like the kid's heinie. Fear not my fellow friends, this movie is not for you!

I've registered just to post this, since I really can't believe this movie is only rated as a 3.3. It was on TV a few months back and we ended up seeing the last half of it. Then my son woke me up last weekend asking about that movie with the big bear, he'd been dreaming about it. Sought the whole internet based on some keywords and finally found the DVD. We saw it yesterday and it was better than I even remembered it. It really is a simple but great movie on a kid that suffers "huge" ordinary problems, a bit of isolation, (loving) parents that move because they think more expensive housing is better and a father that's always working supposedly to pay for all these improvements. But then suddenly a forgotten toy turns out to come alive into a huge bear with strange beady eyes, just a tad scary in the beginning, but then turns out to be his best friend. He needs to hide from the world (kids love it). Gooby eats all the chocolates, candy, ice-cream you can find (again, my son found it hilarious), helps him be cool with his friends and eventually ends up setting everything right again and help his parents learn a valuable lesson. Call it corny, but I think even the message is valid for a lot of kids and parents these days. Loved this films, hope the cynics who forgot to look through a kid's eyes don't put you off seeing it!

I am a fan of Matthew Knight so I have some bias towards liking his movies, so let's get that out of the way right off the top. I've seen all of his movies and "Gooby" was the last one on that list to make it complete. I had seen the trailer on YouTube and was thoroughly confused as to if this movie was a serious attempt at a family-style movie or if it was more of a spoof-style comedy like the way the "Scary Movie" series makes fun of scary movies. Within 2 minutes of watching "Gooby" I knew it was a serious attempt. Without giving anything away, there were a number of scenes that made me wonder what kind of movie I was watching. The bear, Gooby, is creepy as all Hell, and why he has a Scottish accent is beyond me. Overall character development is a little lacking from everyone butt Matthew Knight's character since he gets the most screen time (thankfully). Knight's character is a confusing one for me to understand though. He is 11 years old in the movie but the movie treats him a little younger than that. He still wears dinosaur pajamas, is still afraid of monsters called "Hoonies", and a few other things that I don't want to mention just in case it reveals some plot. Like I said earlier, I love Matthew Knight's acting, but I think a younger actor was required for this movie. I don't want it to sound like I didn't like this movie, because I did like it, a lot. I think it's a phenomenal family film and perfect for the 3-6 age range, but I don't parents will mind seeing it either. It even had a surprise ending that brought a tear to my eye, which I never expected. I really do recommend this film to everyone, don't be turned away by some of the other reviews, you should draw your own conclusions after you see it. I also strongly recommend you check out Matthew Knight's other movies, he is really talented!

This is a very odd movie, from beginning to end. From the start, there is a very big disconnect between the voice & the character of Gooby. With Gooby being a man in a suit, how were they unable to get Robbie Coltrane to just climb into the suit? When the voice doesn't match the face, things can only go downhill from there. Matthew Knight happens to be a talented young actor, as the boy who owns Gooby, but I think his talents are wasted in this role.Gooby is supposed to be the star, and I could not look past the suit to see the character he was portraying - partly because of the way his eyes are painted on in-expressively. The film has a small amount of quirkiness, notably the fact that Gooby retains his "cleaning instructions" tag sewn into his side, but other than that, there's really nothing to recommend. I think kids and adults will be more freaked out by this large stuffed creature than happy to see him.