The Wizard is fairly inoffensive stuff, if you do not object to heavy doses of American materialism and sentimentality and the notion that running away from home is a normal way for a child to respond to a minor disagreement with a father.

Video-addicted kids may well find this exciting, but for anyone old enough to stay out later than 9 P.M. it's a distinct bore.

It was only after the three kids arrived safely at the championships that I began to question the ethics of the film, which is, among other things, a thinly disguised commercial for Nintendo video games and the Universal studio tour.

That the film is able to link family renewal and the product it is so capably marketing should only serve to remind us of what a valuable selling-point the family can be.