GrimPrecise
I'll tell you why so serious
Bluebell Alcock
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Jason Daniel Baker
Naive pastor Reverend Michael Hill takes the helm of the North Avenue Presbyterian church in the town of New Camden. He is outraged when a drunk idiot parish volunteer bets the church's $1200 sinking fund on a horse which loses.Instead of placing blame where it belongs - on the volunteer and on himself for entrusting the money to the imbecile's wife, Hill chooses to take it personally and wage a moral crusade against organized gambling in the town.There really isn't a way to excuse the directing of bored, compliant people to crusade against perceived vice any more than there is a way to excuse organized crime gaming rackets.Hill correctly points out that gambling drains wealth from communities. But multiple people also point out to him that different channels are available for him to fight vice rather than organizing a bunch of busybodies to follow people around putting themselves and innocent people in harm's way.Many a clergyman has used grandstanding against vice as an ego trip and a way to fill his collection plate. The one depicted here appears obsessed with a single moment in which he allowed himself to be victimized by an incompetent - the same kind of which he utilizes to follow around criminal bagmen. We are evidently meant to see him as a well-meaning true believer. But it really is ego bordering on narcissism.Church is separate from state and from law in modern countries mainly because of the excesses it has displayed in dabbling in each in the past with horrific results.A film like this is clearly intended for kids but not to educate them.
misctidsandbits
It's interesting to see that the majority of reviewers deliberately mentioned that this movie has stood the test of time. I think it is an art to create hilarity like this. You have to have an uncomplicated head, which is probably why it is not done today.The Disney Channel used to air their old great family films on a late night, maybe early a.m. venue called "Vault Disney." It's gone. I taped every one I found. Unfortunately, they went on VHS at that time, and they haven't transferred very well to DVD. However, more of these are showing up on DVD online all the time.There was one called something like, "The One and Only Family Band." I think there were more words, but John Davidson and Leslie Warren were in it with Walter Brennan and others. "The Happiest Millionaire" was in the lineup, with an older Greer Garson and Fred MacMurray. It's a musical family piece, which is very funny. These were well done also."North Avenue" is hilarious, fresh and great fun. Lots of good clean energy.
lheist
For whatever reason, this was one of my favorite movies as a kid. It's the story of a reverend (the same guy who is in Gilmore Girls and who plays President Roosevelt in Annie) who comes to a new town. He and a bunch of church ladies are enlisted by the FBI to help crack down on illegal gambling in their town. The subject matter of the film is probably over the heads of some kids, but they'll love the car chases and general mayhem that abounds.
thomandybish
One of the last of Disney's live-action features that truly appealled to kids and parents, THE NORTH AVENUE IRREGULARS concerns a newly-arrived minister(Edward Herrman)who suggests that his flock look for ways to increase the church budget. When the ne'er-do-well husband of one of the church ladies bets the church funds on a fixed horserace, the minister sets out to recoup the funds and uncovers an illegal betting racket in his town. At the prompting of the local authorities, the good reverend and a group of church ladies go undercover to catch the crooks. What ensues is equal parts car chase/slapstick/G-rated comedy, as the motley assortment of soccer moms, little old ladies, and well-coiffed housewives race thier station wagons, pickup trucks, and Lincoln Continentals towards the inevitable happy conclusion. One sour note is a gratuitous rock group enlisted to liven up church services. The group, Strawberry Shortcake, looks and sounds about ten years behind the times, like the 1910 Fruitgum Co. after having gotten religion. Oh well, it is an Disney flick . . .
