SYNOPSIS:
young Matt Tyler (Michael Angarano) who feels neglected by his father David (Kevin Kilner). Dad's been widowed for 4 years and spends all his time running a toy company he's hoping to expand with the help of bank manager Ivan Lucre (Dom DeLuise). When yet another camping trip is cancelled Matt and his buddy Danny (Kevin Jamal Woods) decide to raise money from kids around the world and soon have the required millions to buy out Tyler Toys. communicating as a "Max Headroom"-ish cyber character known as 'Mr Chips' Matt takes over the company and institutes the kind of work practices real factory bosses ought to look at if they really want to improve productivity.
"The description 'family comedy' can be a signal to strike fear into the hearts of
both youngsters and parents. Everyone who has cringed through wholesome entertainment
knows the dangers of being assaulted by squeaky clean characters living in Leave It To
Beaver- inspired worlds of sickly artificiality. Luckily that's not the case with The
Braniacs.com, a pleasant little charmer for kids to enjoy and not feel like they're being
talked down to.
The plot has been around in various guises for years, probably because the message is
always worthwhile if the treatment's up to scratch. Here it involves young Matt Tyler
(Michael Angarano) who feels neglected by his father David (Kevin Kilner). Dad's been
widowed for 4 years and spends all his time running a toy company he's hoping to expand
with the help of bank manager Ivan Lucre (Dom DeLuise). When yet another camping trip is
cancelled Matt and his buddy Danny (Kevin Jamal Woods) decide to raise money from kids
around the world and soon have the required millions to buy out Tyler Toys. Communicating
as a Max Headroom-ish cyber character known as Mr Chips, Matt takes over the company and
institutes the kind of work practices real factory bosses ought to look at if they really
want to improve productivity.
Naturally things spiral out of control when nasty Lucre shows his hand and the Feds
come snooping in search of the revolutionary microchip Matt's sister Kelly (Vanessa Zima)
has been working on without knowing it's been used as collateral for the boy's fundraising
activities. There's no shortage of incident in this entertaining package directed by Power
Rangers veteran Blair Treu and it has appealing players who help carry off a story that's
a little too goofy at times but has a good heart. The star of the show is Michael Angarano
who is one of the brightest juvenile performers we've seen in a while. The romance between
dad and bank employee Miss Banks (Melrose Place/Baywatch star Alexandra Paul) is nicely
done and the message about the importance of quality time is delivered in friendly style.
Best of all this treats its target audience (6 to 12 year-olds) with respect and gives
them old-fashioned fun with toys and modern fun with computers to be entertained by. With
the exception of a too-hammy Dom DeLuise it’s smoothly performed and the whole
enterprise has a bouncy feel to it that adds up to good value for money." Richard Kuipers
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