Life with Mikey

Michael J. Fox's Mikey is the Broadway Danny Rose of child actors. A former child sitcom star turned half-hearted agent to a stable of overeager adolescents, he finds a natural talent when he watches a 12-year-old pickpocket (Christina Vidal) work a crowd to tears. Of course, nothing comes without a price, and the self-involved bachelor soon becomes the unlikely big brother to street-smart Vidal, who soon gives way to sunny cheer. Fox is such an inspired casting choice that most critics missed the undercurrent of self-loathing and loneliness in his impulsive irresponsibility and glib, effortless charm, and Nathan Lane is hilarious as his overworked brother and business partner. They don't get much help from the script, which bounces between smarmy showbiz satire and warm, fuzzy family comedy and winds up as neither, but they manage to make it funny nonetheless.--Sean Axmaker