Shorts

PG

Released Aug 21, 2009

1h 29m

Adventure

Comedy

Action

Fantasy

List

47%

103 Reviews

Tomatometer

32%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the little town of Black Falls, every house looks the same and almost everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries, purveyors of a device that is sweeping the nation. Toe Johnson, 11, is unimpressed with the company and its wares; he just wants a few friends. Then, a wish-granting rock falls from the sky and changes everything. The town swarms with wishes gone amok, but the trouble really begins when adults get their hands on the rock.

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Premiered Dec 28

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Critics Consensus

Shorts has imagination and energy, but most viewers beyond elementary school will likely tire of the kiddie humor and sensory overload.

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Keith Uhlich

Time Out

Whether he's doing Sin City or Spy Kids, Rodriguez always infantilizes his audience, jolting our synapses and indulging our slavering desires for goop and gore.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

All of these adventures call on Rodriguez's fascination with visual effects, which could be tough on his human cast, but he has the wit to keep them in focus. All up, it's good fun.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 2, 2009

Full Review

Ed Gibbs

Empire Magazine

Dives straight into whiz-bang gizmoland, opting for "pause, rewind" flourishes. Cute and enjoyable family fare, then, if a little forced.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 1, 2009

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Childish, unrealistic, and immature - in a good way.

Rated: 7/10

Nov 29, 2020

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Featuring Rodriguez himself in no less than eight roles and six members of his family in the cast.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 23, 2020

Full Review

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Light, silly fun, amiably performed by both its veteran cast and exuberant young 'uns.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 25, 2014

Full Review

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ana luisa u

Los efectos son algo malos personajes son olvidables y meh y el humor es malo y es entrenida y disfrutable es un 5.5 de 10

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

11/14/23

Full Review

Vincent P

no es buena pelicula pero es entretenida y graciosa y divertida

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/16/23

Full Review

Stephen C

LOL, just 01 hour: and 29 minutes ever funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Linden D

A near complete disaster! Terrible and dumb characters! Very disappointing compared to Robert Rodriguez's other kids movies.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/24

Full Review

Erin G

I was really surprised to see the low score on this wildly inventive and very fun movie. I watched it countless times with my kids and it never got old.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/26/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Yes, Shorts is very much a movie for babies. No, Robert Rodriguez has yet to make a family-oriented film that's actually as sorta liked as Spy Kids. You've got bad CGI effects (though some of the stuff is honestly some of Rodriguez's better effects work despite the stilted animation and having that look of something that was awkwardly Photoshopped in), cheesy dialogue and absolutely corny characters (the protagonist and his bully's relationship are basically a live-action adaptation of Hey Arnold!, but with a normal head) but the movie goes nuts with its silly premise, the adult actors are having fun and the kid actors do an okay job but this is a family-friendly Robert Rodriguez film so I'm not sure if I should expect Oscar-worthy acting. Amusing how, in order for the plot to progress, the script has to find a way to insert the words "I Wish" into the dialogue, even if the characters (i.e. people oblivious to the wishing rock) don't really need to say it. A bit nitpicky but doesn't make it any less narm-y. The Adventures of the Wishing Rock is one of Robert Rodriguez's better family-friendly movies but I'll always have a higher opinion of his PG-13/R-rated fare. I know "this isn't for me" but since was that an excuse to be lazy? This did come out the same year as Up, right? Can't be too mad at Rodriguez as long as he enjoyed working on it, if this was targeted towards another kid of his, like Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Yay, now that my review of Shorts is out of the way, that means, at the risk of tempting fate, I never have to think of Robert Rodriguez kids' movies ever again, huzzah!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

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Robert Rodriguez

Director

Jon Cryer

Dad Thompson

William H. Macy

Dr. Noseworthy

Leslie Mann

Mom Thompson

James Spader

Mr. Black

Jimmy Bennett

Toe Thompson

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Synopsis

In the little town of Black Falls, every house looks the same and almost everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries, purveyors of a device that is sweeping the nation. Toe Johnson, 11, is unimpressed with the company and its wares; he just wants a few friends. Then, a wish-granting rock falls from the sky and changes everything. The town swarms with wishes gone amok, but the trouble really begins when adults get their hands on the rock.

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producer: Dan Lin, Hunt Lowry, Mohammed Khalaf, Ed Borgerding
Screenwriter: Robert Rodriguez
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Troublemaker Studios
Rating: PG (Some Rude Humor|Mild Action)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Action, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 21, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.9M
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS

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