Dennis the Menace

What saves this movie from insipidness is an endearing performance by Walter Matthau as the cantankerous Mr. Wilson.

Its unholy mixture of peppy sadism and pious, self-righteous sentiment comes straight from Hughes' crabbed cinematic heart.

Very young children may find the numskull, by-the-numbers gags here amusing, but teens will consider this kids' stuff and adults will be pained.

A smooth blend of sentiment and slapstick.

Mr. Hughes and Mr. Castle try hard to re-create a kind of timeless, idealized comic-strip atmosphere, but except for the performances of Lea Thompson and Robert Stanton... nobody in the movie seems in touch with the nature of the comedy.

The comic has been condensed into a sweet-naturedly nutty motion picture with the buoyancy of a clutch of colored balloons.

Comic strip-based comedy has peril, scary villain.

A kid's picture that can delight crabby adults, too.

As Dennis, the charmless Mason is a Gamble that hasn't paid off.

John Hughes' vision of Dennis is much more menacing than Ketcham's fans and parents of small children might reasonably expect.