Mac and Me ** (1988, Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, Tina Caspary, Lauren Stanley, Jade Calegory) – Classic Movie Review 12,394

The 1988 sci-fi film Mac and Me flopped at the box office, disliked for its plot lines similar to E.T. and its McDonald’s and Coca-Cola product placement. It is now regarded as one of the worst films ever made, but often listed as ‘so-bad-it’s-good’. 

Director Stewart Raffill’s 1988 American family adventure comedy science fiction film Mac and Me is a corny, over-sentimental E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) copycat, in which Eric (Jade Calegory), a boy in a wheelchair, befriends a Mysterious Alien Creature (MAC) fleeing NASA’s clutches.

Christine Ebersole stars as Eric’s mother and Jonathan Ward plays his brother. Annoyingly, MAC is also a constant reminder of one of the film’s sponsors and the alien’s dependency on a brand of cola is another.

This aside, the movie is perfectly acceptable entertainment for young children, though, unlike E T, there is plenty here to irritate adults, especially the contrivance of the Mysterious Alien Creature being referred to as MAC, a dance number at a McDonald’s featuring Ronald McDonald, and the characters’ wearing of McDonald’s clothing.

The film flopped at the box office, disliked because of its plot lines similar to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and its elaborate product placement of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. It won Worst Director and Worst New Star (for Ronald McDonald) at the Golden Raspberry Awards. It ends with the text ‘We’ll be back!’, but Orion Pictures cancelled the planned sequel. It is now regarded as one of the worst films ever made, appearing in various ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ lists.

The film premiered in Hong Kong on 5 August 1988, with its US release on August 12 1988. A box office bomb, it grossed $6,424,112 in the US on a budget of $13 million, though home video sales eventually made the film profitable for Orion Pictures.

Jade Calegory, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair in real life, plays Eric Cruise. Stewart Raffill said the producer R J Louis wanted to use an actor who was handicapped. ‘So he found a kid who had spina bifida. The kid had never acted before, but he was a wonderful kid. But, when they finished, it was as if the fact that they used a real encumbered person to play the person didn’t mean anything.’

Stewart recalled: ‘I was hired out of the blue. And the producer asked me to come down to the office. He had everybody already hired and I said, “Well, what’s the script?” And he said, “We don’t have a script. I don’t like the script. You have to write the script. You’re gonna have to write it quickly so prep the movie and write the script on the weekends.”‘

Raffill and Steve Feke are credited as co-writers.

Squire Fridell (born February 9, 1943) is a retired American actor, author and winemaker, who appeared in more than 3,000 TV commercials. He also appeared as Ronald McDonald in McDonald’s commercials from 1985 to 1991.