After enjoying The Kid Trilogy, I needed to see the other Gary Coleman TV movies. Unfortunately, the one I have wanted to see for years, Playing with Fire, continues to elude me, but I saw a couple others. Here, then, is my exclusive Power Rankings of the TV movies Coleman starred in during the BOTNS era:
1) The Kid with the 200 I.Q. : To me, this is peak Coleman in part because it plays like an extended sitcom pilot as much as a movie. You could easily see his Nick Newell returning for weekly adventures with Robert Guillaume. The supporting cast is amusing, and the story combines elements of all sorts of teen movies of the era but in a wholesome way. If you see only one Gary Coleman movie...see Halo because we discuss it on the pod. If you see two, catch this one, too.
2) The Kid from Left Field: The baseball theme gets me on this one. It's fun, it has the Padres, and I just get a kick out of it.
3) The Kid with the Broken Halo: Yes, it's the one we covered, and I am glad we did. You, the listeners, demanded it! Yet it's my least favorite of the Kid Trilogy. This is all relative, of course, but I think the concentration on multiple storylines dilutes things a bit. The big thing is, I just like the other two a bit better.
4) The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins: This one features a number of whimsical (and budget-friendly) set pieces sending up Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other pop culture phenomena. Collins is a diplomat's son who has an overactive imagination to the extent he spaces out while experiencing fantasy scenarios. He finds himself in a situation of real espionage and Washington D.C. intrigue.
This is less sitcom-ish than the Kid Trilogy and has more an emphasis on the relatively mild adventure and action. It's charming in its way but not as compelling as the Trilogy.
And by the way, while you may not find Jason Bateman in The Boy with the Cracked Horns, you WILL find him here, with a posh English accent, to boot!
5) Scout's Honor: Coleman is a lonely foster kid who finds his niche in Cub Scouts while Katherine Helmond finds hers when forced by her boss to be a den mother. This is not as entertaining as the Kind Trilogy, despite the presence of Meeno Peluce, but it has some really affecting moments.
It's not an exaggeration to say that one scene in which Coleman stands in front of a mirror and cries really hit me. His Joey has just received a cruel reminder of how little his foster parents care for him. Their attitude about a situation is shockingly dismissive in fact. When Coleman runs off and starts bawling, it's the actor as I never saw him before--not stage crying or being sad for effect, but just crying--a sad, pitiful boy whose heart is broken. The movie is worth seeing for that scene alone.
