A Review of the Movie Harold

The only reason I even grabbed the movie Harold was because my local video store was doing its weekly stock up of new movies that would be lining the shelves the following day. Whenever they do this, they pretty much move everything around, and half the shelves in the store are empty.

Harold seemed like the only flick worth watching at the time. Normally though this would be a movie I'd simply walk past. When I got a closer look at the DVD case though and realized our main character Harold was played by Spencer Breslin I had to give it a try.

I will say this... I am glad I picked it up, because the flick was a hell of a lot funnier than I originally thought it would be.

Harold is about a boy who is 13 years old, and has some rare disease that has caused all of his hair to fall out. Instead of just taking a Bic to his head though, he leaves it as it is, creating the old man wrap around. You know? No hair on the top, but with a strip of hair that runs along the sides. With a thick pair of framed glasses, Harold basically looks like a 70 year old man.

Not only that he has a sarcastic attitude, has a bad sense of style, and a weird waddled walk that makes it seem like he needs a cane.

Harold though is well liked and accepted by his peers in his community and he pretty much loves his life and where he is. Not to long into the movie though, Harold's mom breaks some devastating news to her kids. She lets them know that they will be moving.

Harold's sister who is pretty and popular takes the news with excitement and sees it as an opportunity to meet new people. Harold however knows that the new adjustment will be nearly impossible thanks to him being bald. No matter how much he whines and complains to his mom about the move, the decision is final.

As he predicted, the entire school teases him, and makes fun of him. In fact the whole class learns his bald secret the moment he walks into class and is told to take off his hat.

Although nearly 99% of the school hates him, Harold manages to make a few friends with a small group of nerds/freaks/losers, and of course the schools Janitor (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.). There is also one particular girl that wants to get to know Harold on terms that would be considered 'more than just a friend', and that would be his senior citizen next door neighbor who thought that Harold was an old man when she first met him.

Throughout the movie you basically watch as Harold goes from being well liked in his original hometown, to a full blown loser in his new residence, and the struggle he goes through to try and fit in.

Although the plot does not sound like it is even remotely funny, I will say that Harold pukes up a funny scene nearly every 5 minutes. Cuba Gooding Jr. in particular delivers a believable janitor, and nearly every scene he is in will have you bawling.

Spencer Breslin does an awesome job at making his character Harold come to life, while delivering hilarious sarcastic lines and humor.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend you run out to buy the movie, but it is definitely worth a rent. It's entertaining, with a quirky vibe to it that is similar to Napoleon Dynamite mixed with Revenge of the Nerds, and I feel it is one that you will not want to miss; especially if you love a good comedy.

Harold gets two thumbs up from me.