Posted: 03/18/2005

Undercover Kids

(2005)

by Sandra Ray

For families like mine, it is hard to find quality programming for children of any type. When I look for movies, I have an especially hard time, since most of them include too much sex, violence, or poor language. While this movie doesn’t have violent content or even bad language, I was dismayed to find a reporter with a slinky tank top under her trench coat. This lady is supposed to be interviewing children about their detective agency, not applying for a job in a lingerie factory!

Unfortunately, Undercover Kids falls flat for me. Other than the well-built “reporter,” the story line lacked charisma and the acting and direction needed more innovation. My daughters liked the idea of telepathic twins, but agreed with me that they didn’t think it was a movie they would want to spend their money to buy at the store.

A genius at age 13, George (Austin Rogers) starts his own detective agency after he meets telepathic twins, Nelson and Nicole (London Smith & Priscilla Smith), in need of an answer to the question of who vandalized the school. The movie flashes back and forth between the interview with the “reporter” and the past incident of the school vandalism.

The story has real potential; I guess for this reason, I am saddened that it did not go further. Twins who lost their parents in an accident are suddenly faced with their older sister as their replacement parent and a new school makes for an intriguing story line. The fact that they are telepathic makes it more appealing. MTI Video could have done much more with this story, and it’s a shame that they pinned their hopes on actors who needed more experience before tackling this one.

Sandra Ray is a tough mom who doesn’t let her children watch just anything…

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