God (George Burns) is back! He asks little Tracy Richards (Louanne) to meet him using Chinese fortune cookies. Her parents Paula (Suzanne Pleshette) and Don (David Birney) are divorced. Only she can hear or see him. She suggests that he should get a slogan. He gives her the job. She and her friend Shingo come up with 'Think God'. They get the other kids to join. Her parents get concerned about her talking to God. School Principal Benson is not happy and suspends her. Her parents bring her to a child psychiatrist and he tells them to institutionalize her. Shingo leads a school demonstration to bring back Tracy.
I have a couple of problems with this movie. Whenever an old man lures a young girl away, I always have a Stranger-Danger moment. The fortune cookies bit leaves me a bit cold. Once I get over that, the cute little girl is very compelling. I like most of the movie but then it takes a jab at child psychiatry that is both undeserved and unreasonable. It makes disbelieve to be some kind of evil. The movie itself makes the analogy to childhood imaginary friends. I doubt psychiatrists were locking kids up for imaginary friends even back then. If they could make the case that she was harming herself or other people, that would make a whole lot more sense. This is simply picking a fight with nobody real. There are some good moments in the middle. George Burns is still sharp.
I have a couple of problems with this movie. Whenever an old man lures a young girl away, I always have a Stranger-Danger moment. The fortune cookies bit leaves me a bit cold. Once I get over that, the cute little girl is very compelling. I like most of the movie but then it takes a jab at child psychiatry that is both undeserved and unreasonable. It makes disbelieve to be some kind of evil. The movie itself makes the analogy to childhood imaginary friends. I doubt psychiatrists were locking kids up for imaginary friends even back then. If they could make the case that she was harming herself or other people, that would make a whole lot more sense. This is simply picking a fight with nobody real. There are some good moments in the middle. George Burns is still sharp.