D.A.R.Y.L

I have never heard of this movie before. I just found it when I was just randomly looking around the video store. Well lets find out if this is a forgotten classic or if there is a reason I never heard of this film.

The movie starts with a helicopter chasing a car. Inside the car is a man named Dr. Mulligan (Richard Hammatt) and a kid named Daryl (Barret Oliver). Dr. Mulligan lets Daryl out of the car and Daryl runs into the woods. The helicopter chases the car over a cliff. An elderly couple find Daryl and takes him to a small town where he is given to a foster family. His new parents names are Joyce (Mary Beth Hurt) and Andy (Micheal McKean). Daryl meets a new friend in town named Turtle (Danny Corkill). By the way, yes, Turtle is the only name we are ever given for this character. But I like turtles so I wont complain. Anyway, Turtle takes Daryl to his house and Daryl gets the highest score on a racing video game rather quickly. Later Daryl plays baseball with Turtle and Andy. Daryl knocks the ball across the street on his first try. Andy and Turtle realize that they can use Daryl as their secret weapon when playing baseball next week. When it's time to play baseball Daryl does extremely well.

 Now to be honest the entire baseball scene feels like the climax to a sports movie. I mean it even ends with them winning, and the scene ends with a freeze frame and a fade to black. Daryl seems happy with his new life but then someone says they found Daryl's real parents. A man named Jeffery (Josef Sommer) and a woman named Ellen (Kathryn Walker) show up and take Daryl away. They get on a plane and fly off to a government  base. At the base it is revealed that Daryl is a robot and that his name is an acronym for Data Anylzing Robot Youth Lifeform. But the Government tells Jeffery that his project is out of funding and Daryl must be terminated.

           ***SPOILERS ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

So Ellen and Jeffery have to terminate him.  But they only fake it and Daryl escapes in a car with Jeffery. Unfortunately they get chased after by the police. The police set up a barricade. But they manage to get past it. However, Jeffery gets shot and dies at the second checkpoint. So Daryl is on his own now. Daryl comes across a military air force base and decides to break in to steal a plane and fly home to Joyce, Andy, and Turtle. He steals a plane and flies off. He makes a call to turtle and he tells him to meet him at the lake. But the government fires a missile at Daryl who is forced to eject. He lands in the lake and almost drowns. But he survives; the government just assumes he's dead and Daryl is reunited with his family. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

D.A.R.Y.L is pretty good. The idea of a robot child seems pretty original and the kid playing him does a good job. I also like how we get time to know Daryl and come up with our own ideas of who he is before we find out he is a robot. The only problem I have is that it doesn't try anything new and it is a lot like other 1980's kids movies. I also feel like it doesn't explain enough things. Like who exactly was Dr. Mulligan. We never really find out too much about him. Other than that I think it was worth seeing. See you next time.

GREEN = MONEY YOU'LL GAIN, RED = MONEY YOU'LL LOSE, BLUE = PRODUCTS YOU'LL HAVE TO RECALL, YELLOW = ANGRY MOBS THAT WILL TRY TO KILL YOU....DO YOU EXEPT THIS DEAL?