Disclaimer: The following review is based on notes I wrote for my video review after rewatching this movie back in December of 2023, with the notes being slightly revised.
Max Keeble's Big Move (2001) is a family comedy that's produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Tim Hill. It follows our titular protagonist Max Keeble (Alex D. Linz), a part-time paperboy who is just starting junior high school. He's basically surviving his first week of junior high while facing bully problems. He also learns that he and his family are moving to Chicago in a week after his dad gets a big promotion, so he uses this to his advantage to exact revenge on the bullies who picked on him and his friends. Then, after causing all kinds of mischief, he learns that he's not moving and has to face the consequences of his actions. That's the plot in a nutshell.
We've got a set of different characters:
There's the protagonist Max Keeble, who I've already mentioned. We've got Max's two quirky best friends: Robe (Josh Peck), who wears a bath robe to school, and Megan (Zena Grey), the dorky redhead, who is bandmates and besties with Max, but we later learn that she has actual feelings for him. There are also Max's parents: Don Keeble (Robert Carradine), who works in the marketing industry and is paid to wear over the top costumes, and Lily Keeble (Nora Dunn), who's a typical stay at home mom.
We've got our bullies: There's Troy (Noel Fisher), who has an actual connection with the protagonist, as he previously showed up at Max's birthday party and was left traumatized after seeing a creepy-looking singing Frog puppet on the TV. Then there's Dobbs (Orlando Brown), who's obsessed with the stock market, and he pulls this investment scam on the kids to get a hold of their lunch money.
There's Jenna (Brooke Anne Smith), the hot blonde that Max has his eyes set on throughout the movie, but we learn that she's really shallow and has been taking advantage of him from the start.
Now we've got our set of villains: There's the Evil Ice Cream Man (Jamie Kennedy), and yes, he's called the "Evil Ice Cream Man". His deal is that he has a beef with Max after a health complaint from the latter's mom over a bug on his snow cone. This makes the two archrivals. Then there's our main antagonist Principal Jindraike (Larry Miller), who is the greedy money hungry school principal who comes out with a football program to impress the school superintendent, who is also a former football star. He plans to demolish the nearby animal shelter to make way for a new football stadium, and we also learn that he's using much of the school's budget to fund this project. Max and his friends, after finding this out, set out to stop the greedy principal and save the school and the animal shelter.
That's basically the gist of the whole movie without giving too much away.
This movie was torn apart by the critics and bombed at the box office (making only $18 million against its $25 million budget). But over time, it's found its audience and has gotten a bit of a cult following, partly thanks to Disney Channel airings. Come to think of it, this straight up feels like a Disney Channel movie, from the writing to the directing to the production value. Maybe, this was initially going to be a Disney Channel original, but then Disney decided at the last minute to release it in theaters because they figured "Why the heck not?". At least that's my theory.
I saw this movie in theaters when it came out as a kid, and again on TV and I remember liking it. I watched it just recently as an adult on Disney+ and I'd say it's an okay movie. It's not bad but it's not particularly good either. The movie is entertaining but it's kind of stupid, the plot is pretty ridiculous and it's a bit silly at times. There are some parts that are genuinely funny, but there are also some parts that tried to be funny but didn't quite land. I also felt it had some clever ideas but didn't know what to do with them half the time. The directing and acting are decent at least, and I think Larry Miller absolutely stole the show as the greedy Principal. I'd say this movie is average. I think it's a passably okay way to waste an hour and a half.
I'm going to give Max Keeble's Big Move (2001) a solid 6/10, which is being generous.
So, have you seen Max Keeble's Big Move (2001)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Would you consider it a classic or would you say it's not worth it? Let me know in the comments.
You can check out my video review on YouTube:
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As I post this, Max Keeble's Big Move (2001) is currently streaming on Disney+
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