Lloyd (2001) User Reviews

Pint-sized 'Nerds' light hearted, funny

[astikennels · 6/10 · 3 March 2007]

Show cases the everyday challenges youth are subjected to during their informative years during school.

A smooth ride throughout the movie from scene to scene. Easy to watch, can hold your attention.

While some parts are indeed a tad bit "cheesey" there's a character in this movie that relates to everyone, weather its the 'ugly duckling', the bully, Ms. Popularity, or Rich Kid, we have all been through these experiences.

Touches on the feelings a child has with difficulties in learning, and needing extra help. There could have been a little more portrayed on the stigma of the "special classes" and how a child is treated once it is known they are attending them.

The brother's character could have been brought out a little stronger in some areas.

There is a positive vibe with the single mother towards her son, countering his feelings of worthlessness.

I liked the movie, and laughed freely throughout.....

I have already suggested this movie to friends and family for their younger school age kids to watch.

I can't believe it is not more popular

[john-b-1995 · 7/10 · 11 September 2011]

First, the plot: Lloyd (Todd Bosley) is a lonely boy who is bullied and gets called ugly. His one and only friend is Troy (Brendon Ryan Barrett) and he is madly in love with Tracey (Kristen Parker), a girl in his class. Lloyd tries everything to get to her to like him, including writing a note to her and trying to impress her with dance moves outside her house, or should i say, someone else's house.

I really don't understand understand why this is so under rated. It is definitely one of the most under rated comedies i have seen. It is filled with scenes that have you in stitches. The plot is very simple but it does not stop it from being entertaining. Lloyd is a bitter sweet family comedy about friendship and growing up.

People need to give this film a chance. If you have not seen it, give it a watch.

Very touching...in an odd kind of way!

[Kuri_Edako · 7/10 · 19 September 2003]

I first saw this film when it was on HBO, and since then, I have bought it on DVD so i can watch it whenever i want. Anyway, it is a movie about this oddball in a class of midde-aged kids, who wants to go out with this girl called Tracy. Anyway, the story focuses on Lloyd, and how he keeps doing these inept attemps at winning Tracy's heart. It's a sweet story with a valuable lesson that is "Be thankfull for who you are". Definately worth a look. 7.5/10

Lloyd kicks ass!!!

[thekidgonzalez · 3 April 2003]

Lloyd deserves 4 stars!!! This movie is sooooo funny! I like the girl that says "I love ketchup"!!! It was soo funny when Lloyd and his friend put bras on in front of that pizza guy!!!! Watch this movie!!!:)

Movie for kids, with lot of irony and wit

[EisLatino · 6/10 · 28 November 2001]

"Lloyd" is a movie for kids, but the film tells the common story of an outsider kid with so much irony and wit that even adults may have fun here.

The performance of Todd Bosley (he can make a grimace as good as Jim Carrey) as Lloyd is above average for a child actor. He creates attention for his character, makes him believable and likable. There are only few scenes where he overacts, but that will be forgiven ! Most of the time he plays as if he parodies himself !

Irony is created by the use of characters like the old Lady Lloyd works for (the one with the horrible garden), the teacher Mr. Weid (Taylor Negron) who tells his pupils about his depressions, Tony Longo as dance-teacher and even Tom Arnold in a small, but nice performance as magician.

Good and inventive camera work in many scenes (close-ups of Lloyd's face, the scene with the lawn-mower) ! Good child actors in supporting parts as well (Brendon Ryan Barrett as Troy, Sammy Elliott as Lloyd's brother Nathan) as good casting with Mary Mara as Lloyd's mother.

Unfortunately at the end there are too many childish scenes, e.g. the spaghetti fight and the story about the friendship between Troy and Lloyd isn't finished the nice way it began, it just doesn't seem to be important to the director any longer.

6 out of 10

A Good Magician Would Make This Movie Vanish

[Zantara Xenophobe · 4/10 · 9 January 2002]

This review contains some spoilers. Nothing too serious without a warning.

I thought `Lloyd' was going o be one of those sleeper gems made by an independent company unrelated to Disney and lost in the shuffle. When I watched it, I was pretty disappointed and chalk it up as a decent but misguided try. While I didn't hate this movie, I could have done without seeing it. `Lloyd' stars Todd Bosley (any relation to Tom Bosley, I wonder?) as a goofy kid trying to survive grade school. He has no friends, is doing poorly in school, and has a crush on a popular grade school girl. What's interesting is the second of those things. The plot is typical except that what you normally see is a whiz kid with no friends and a crush on a girl. So I thought I was going to see a movie teaching kids a lesson about making the grades. But that didn't happen, much to my surprise. Actually, it never really touches on this important topic, instead opting to focus on Lloyd's crush and his attempt to be popular. He tries to be a class clown, wear cool sunglasses, do simple magic tricks, and give out candy to fellow students. Of course, neither his teacher not the school bully take kindly to these actions. What I couldn't figure out is what director Hector Barron thought of this. Lloyd's attempts at popularity get him in trouble with everyone and he even gets put in a special education class. But there is no kind of sure-tale sign that Lloyd realizes his ploys were bad things. Nor does it seem to find anything wrong with its bad ending. **Spoiler alert** The ending, where Lloyd ruins his coach's spaghetti dinner/square dance festival really tanked this movie for me. It defies logic by letting Lloyd use impossible magic to change his clothes and dance to disco and then change someone else's clothes in a puff of smoke. This is followed by a ridiculous food fight where no adult present bothers to put a stop to the madness and no apparent punishment is handed out afterward. If it was trying to teach kids anything, it lost its point here. **End Spoiler Alert**

The performances are a mixed bag. Bosley was rather unappealing, especially compared to his previous movies like "Little Giants" and "Treehouse Hostage.". He makes a lot of goofy faces, acting as if he wants to grow up to become a poor man's Ernest P. Worrell. The characters of his mother and brother are so unimportant that they might as well have been left out of the story. Lloyd makes a friend halfway through, and the kid seems to have a knack for acting, but Hector Barron doesn't seem to care about him. When Lloyd and his friend have a falling out, a few scenes later they are chumming again with no explanation. The only recognizable faces belong to Tom Arnold and Taylor Negron. I am not a fan of Arnold, but I even admit that more of him would have been a good thing. He plays the owner of a magic shop that Bosley likes to visit. But after about twenty minutes, his character disappears and only shows up later, telling Bosley on a video tape that he moved out of town. Bosley's favorite store moving away should have been treated much better than this. I really like Negron, who plays the special education teacher. You can see him really trying in his scenes, hinting how mundane his character is when he tells his class about himself. But he is wasted talent who needs to gift us with bigger, more extensive roles if Hollywood will only let him. The only character that is both funny and given ample screen time is Tony Longo, who plays the physical education coach that forces the kids into doing the square dance festival. The scenes where he instructs the kids on dancing are the best in the entire film.

Perhaps the worst thing about `Lloyd' is what it keeps its main focus on. It's not school, or even popularity, but girls. Being a twenty-something that has yet to have a first kiss, I get quite perturbed when watching a Disney Channel movie where thirteen year-olds are dating and getting smooched. But here the kids are even younger than that and are already having those experiences, including Lloyd on numerous occasions. What gives? This can't be what is happening in schools today! Or in the bathrooms, for that matter, like when Lloyd and his friend practice kissing by planting their lips on their own reflections in a mirror. It is a painful moment. What's next? Grade schoolers losing their virginity to each other? When that happens, I am throwing away my television set. Had this movie made its focus something more realistic and beneficial, and if the ending was scrapped for something much better, this might have been one kids and adults would love. Instead, it is one that will never find an audience. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10.

Enough humour to be a comedy.

[F1ame · 6/10 · 8 September 2001]

Todd does a good job as Lloyd, the star of the show. A not so good looking kid with a desperation to be looked upon as not ugly. The only exception to his good acting is one scene 45 minutes in, where some emotion was required. Depending on your expectation of a child actor you can let that slide. A quick word on the comic performance of Taylor Negron, Excellent.

Slight confusion creeps in when a child desperate for female attention becomes most upset about the situation directly after one girl's obvious attention. As for the excuse he was after one girl in particular, that's just being picky.

It's nice to see a film with some good comedy touches, that are subtly distributed throughout the film. There is nothing worse than the 'This Is A Joke' neon sign that many films use to try and get you to laugh. Not trying to be all meaningful or take itself particularly seriously, this film actually elevates itself above the general cheap riff raff that it would be pigeon-holed with.

Despite being very funny at times, Lloyd suffers from an unequal direction...

[dwpollar · 5/10 · 22 June 2001]

1st watched 6/21/2001 - 5 out of 10(Dir-Hector Barron) Despite being very funny at times, Lloyd suffers from an unequal direction in it's goals as a movie. I believe the fault lies with the producer's/director's. Todd Bosley gives a tremendous realistic portrait of a not-so-handsome boy and his dealings with school, life etc... He is extremely funny at times, and realistically confused and sad at others. Tom Arnold also does a good job as a magician who befriends Lloyd. These performances could have made a good movie, but the makers didn't seem like they really knew what direction they wanted to go with this. They threw in scenes that had the type of humor that would appeal to teenage kids, but then also seemed to want to hit the moral adult crowd by tugging at our heartstrings. The bottom line is that this made the total film experience confusing.

Lloyd slipped through without notice.

[wheelchairbum · 9/10 · 27 July 2005]

This movie reminds me of being a kid. Not that I had a life like Lloyd, but just how kids think, and act in life. Kids have no clue the whole world is in front of them. They also have no real idea that their youth will be gone in a flash. Todd Bosley (Lloyd) is one of the most overlooked young actors in Hollywood. It's easy to see he is a natural, and the sky is the limit for him, if he chooses to stay in films. What makes him special is his ability to draw a laugh, without props, or a gag. His antics put me in mind of Jim Carrey. Not that he acts like Carrey, Bosley seems to have a natural comedic style all his own.

The supporting cast is also very good. While watching this film, you are sure to recognize some familiar faces. None of them, that I recall, ever having leading roles. But, still provide Bosley with fantastic support. I rate it a 9 out of 10. This is a movie for children, but adults can find some fun in the film too.

It's clean, fun, and I think it has a great lesson for kids. Forget your troubles. Have a good time, things always have a way of working themselves out. I rate it 9 out of 10, because I felt the depth could have been better for the cast. But, it is still a good movie.

Liked it for some reason

[mwcanadian · 7/10 · 2 December 2019]

For some reason i enjoyed this. It's not the best I've seen, but for kids it could inspire someone who feels they are ugly that they can get a girl, just not the one you expected to have. The acting was great, Mr. Weid was surprisingly funny, when I first saw this as a teen, I saw why Lloyd liked Tracy, she's beautiful. The girl who played Carla also was great and pretty here too. In the end you wanted Storm to get his for all his bullying. And Troy was a great best friend for Lloyd.

Not as Good as it Sounds.....

[MovieMarauder · 2/10 · 13 December 2001]

Warning: Spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution...

From seeing the description of this movie on my Digital Cable Guide, I figured it would be like another Revenge of the Nerds, a story about a quick-witted adolescent who vies for the love of a female classmate with a handsome class Cassanova. This wasn't the case. It was about a moping little wimp who, although he really doesn't look that bad (except for a really stupid haircut), feels sorry for himself constantly. He becomes smitten with a new female student in his remedial class, but a virulent, albeit handsome classmate ridicules him and steals his love interest. Lloyd begins to ignore his friends and family, obsessing with her. The whole thing is just mishandled. Because this kid has no cajones in defending his honor from this jerk, who even goes so far as to beat his best friend up on the playground, you can't really feel any sympathy for the character. He's just a dishrag with no personality. The one bright spot in this film is Lloyd's "disco sabotage" of "Western Night." But the ending is a cop-out. I won't say anymore, except that I was very disappointed with the poorly-drawn characters, and I would recommend you don't waste your time with this film. If you want a misfit-beats-bully-and-gets-the-girl film, rent 'Sidekicks" or watch one of the old Popeye cartoons. At least then you get to see some carnage.

what?!!

[tarynhamburger · 9/10 · 30 April 2005]

if you watch movies and base them on how entertaining they are rather than how cognitively stimulating, you will love the movie LLD. it's a great and hysterical family film, and it's awesome for all ages. i saw it at 17 and loved it! rent/buy LLD - you won't regret it.

the above comment is preposterous. all i can say is that this is not a movie for the "entertainment elite." if you watch movies so that you can brag about how cool you are because you saw it, first of all: don't watch movies, you ruiner. second of all, of course you're going to think this movie is ridiculous - it IS ridiculous, but still, fantastic.

The original title was better: he's an Ugly Kid.

[Fred Mertz · 6/10 · 28 November 2001]

The movie made me laugh - alot - and often not for the intended purposes but its sheer ineptitude as translated to film.

The supporting cast makes the movie hysterical: Mr. Weid just about killed my wife and I every time he showed up. Taylor Negron is always funny but in this role, he stole the movie. Tony Longo as the constantly-yelling coach who promotes square dancing was another pleasant surprise. Overall, the dialogue for the teachers was nothing short of comedic genius.

The kids, though, had some terrible dialogue. My wife actually yelled at the television, exclaiming "what kid talks like that?!" and how could anyone argue? When the kids acted like kids, we died laughing ("Freeze, Pickle! This is a stick-up!" was the best line in the movie). When they had to fumble with corny dialogue, we noticed how bad the editing was and all the sundry mistakes made during the film.

The Calvillo family was over-employed on the set, I think. There are some scenes that required more explanation, more development to explain *how* the Ugly Kid (and boy is he ugly) learns to pseudo-salsa and lip-synch Spanish; dance a passable Tony Manero; and organize a group of kids who supposedly hate his guts? And why did the kids all put their (spent) candy all over the school?

Burning questions unanswered, best not asked in the first place. A reasonably good movie with some really funny scenes; the writer has some talent for this.

Um, who exactly is the target audience for this film?

[selfhelpradio · 26 December 2001]

I have nephews the same age as the main character in this film, & I think they'd spend the better part of this film as embarrassed as I was. But, briefly, here's the plot:

Lloyd is a skinny, red-headed, bespectacled sixth-grader (think of a twelve-year-old Carrot Top & you're dead on) who's so desperate to be popular that he is constantly doing ridiculous things that only get him jeers. He falls in love with the "new girl at school" but she goes for the boy that says, "I'm cute & popular." Furthermore, the teachers aren't entirely supportive of him. At home, his mother gives him pep talks but his little brother, apparently a kind of nine-year-old Cassanova, rags on him as much as anyone. Lloyd falls into a depression until he decides to use the only skill he seems to have, an interest in magic, to turn the tables on one of his teachers at a school function.

It sounds like standard kiddie movie fare, but there are some weird elements to this movie that compelled me to write this commentary. First of all, the kids are not very good actors. An elementary school in a suburb of Los Angeles doing the traditional Thanksgiving story could run rings around these youngsters. The tagline seems to want us to believe this is a story about self-esteem, but beside his queer looks, Lloyd really isn't all that special. The magic he learns from weird special guest Tom Arnold isn't really magic at all - it's a trick played in a movie, reliant on the cameras & editing, certainly not one a twelve-year-old could learn. So his search for self-esteem is banal in the extreme - was the director hoping for an audience of underachievers? & if he got it, wouldn't even underachievers be offended by it?

I was also a little nonplussed by the emphasis on children's sexuality. While obviously not on the level of your average teen "but I've never had sex" comedy, the film seems to spend a lot of time showing children in their early teens (barely out of adolescence) holding hands, kissing for the first time, dreaming about kissing, & talking about it. Lloyd's only friend describes french kissing as "ringing the bell" in the back of a girl's mouth. Oh, doubtless kids that age think about & do things of that nature all the time - it just felt stilted & clumsy to me, especially as Lloyd was completely clueless in that regard. An examination of the whys & hows of early courting, seen though the eyes of an outsider, could have been funny & revealing here.

The most confusing element is the stuff added apparently for adults wanting to be entertained while taking their kids to see the movie. A convenience store clerk with difficult facial hair stares at a movie he's watching at work & says, "I have got to finish film school." Tom Arnold, as a sort of mentor to Lloyd, talks a lot about how fat he used to be. The teacher in the "special ed" class Lloyd is sent to tells the kids he has problems with depression & talks about how an imaginary friend helped him in school, though the classes he mentioned are obviously college-level. Remember, this is not an indie comedy or even a Saturday Night Live franchise flick. This is ostensibly a movie to be viewed by kids in elementary & middle school. (In any event, for a fellow in his 30s, even those parts aren't very funny.)

I remember as a kid, the sophisticated parts of Warner Brothers cartoons might have baffled me, but the stuff for the whole family was funny. Later on, the deeply censored Hanna Barbera cartoons of the 70s were just plain insulting, even to a ten-year-old. But I can't believe that the director of this movie really thought he was talking to kids the same age as Lloyd. Now, I caught this film in the afternoon with nothing else on, & had never heard of it, so it didn't make much of a splash. But I think it's fair to say that some of the reasons it didn't were: a talentless, uninteresting cast; an unambitious focus; & baffling attempts to be funny beyond its apparent audience's years.

The Ugly Kid

[grnfroge · 10/10 · 9 May 2001]

Director Hector Barron's first big break in film. He has been making movies since he was a kid and now he finaly got it out. Being a kid in heart is what made the break through for this film. The movie Lloyd (aka The Ugly Kid) is about a young boy who is treated badly by school bullies and all. He is called names and he does not like it at all. He makes him feel like he is realy a cricket and an ugly kid. He befriends Troy, a classmate from school. Lloyd also falls in love with Tracy but Storm the bully steals her away from him. Magic is Lloyd's favorite thing in the world. He also has help from the magic toy shop owner who is played by Tom Arnold. Ted Negron is one of his teachers and Mary Mara plays his mother. Lloyd goes through life as all of us went through life. There is a way that Lloyd defends himself and all ugly kids or undefeated ones like Lloyd was. This film was wonderful. I hope to see many more films directed and written by Hector Barron.

really good and funny!

[dr-no · 9/10 · 22 December 2001]

This was a very good movie. Don't just read this, go rent it and see. Take my word for it. Watch for Mr. Weid scenes! Absolutely hilarious! It;s that good. Go on. Right now. You people need to give it a higher rating! I mean come on!!!!!!!

people get paid for this?

[quadersa · 21 June 2002]

It's one thing to have a realistic ugly kid who has a good heart, but the kid starring in this film is a loser with no redeeming qualities. He's not a sympathetic character at all. In fact, he's quite annoying and I watched the film in its entirety hoping bad things would happen to him. It would be one thing if they film didn't want you to root for him and was meant only to be a realistic portrayal of the misery of junior high. But unfortunately the misguided director thinks that this character is someone we want to see win. A much funnier and unflinchingly realistic film of the same subject matter can be found in "Welcome to the Dollhouse."

Fantastic movie

[k_duchacek · 10/10 · 3 May 2021]

Fantastic movie from start to finish don't make them like they used to It's all about the rhino.

The most depressing movie I've ever seen!

[obiwan2005 · 7 February 2002]

I was channel surfing one day and saw this movie on HBO. Is it just me, or does this kid have Gary Coleman disease. He looks exactly the way he did when he was in "little giants"...In 1994!!! Its about this loser kid who is trying to find a way to show this girl he likes her. She shoots him down and starts making out with this handsome jerk, Storm(keep in mind this is about 5th graders). So he cries and feels sorry for himself. And it all resolves in the final climactic scene at the schools spaghetti dinner. Instead of the square dancing lloyds sopposed to do, HE DISCOS INSTEAD!!!! YEA LLOYD, STICK IT TO THE MAN!!!! This results to the classic (or tired) food fight scene. Then lloyd uses magic to put a cactus costume on Storm. And he falls down. AND EVERYBODYS HAPPY AGAIN. But the girl still doesn't like him though. This movie is unrealistic and depressing. I mean this kid is ugly, look at the picture above!!! This movie is obviously some nerd's fantasy. He really makes the girls in this movie mean. Example:

Girl 1: There is this one boy in my class who smells like a dog's fart.

Girl 2: That LLoyd kid looks like he came out of my hamster.

Girl 3: I just got a love note.

Girl 1: I get those all the time!

Girls dont say "fart"! This guy must of had a lousy childhood. Dont watch this movie if your depressed. You may get suicidal. But if you are one of us pretty people, sit back, pop this tape in the VCR and get ready to have a great time at the expense of ugly nerds!!!

What...?

[MovieAddict2016 · 25 November 2002]

Lloyd...I didn't get it. Not only does it boast on the front box one of the worst actors ever, Mr. Tom "loudmouth" Arnold, but I don't understand who this film was geared towards. Sometimes there's stupid little jokes, then there's things like "You ever see a woman naked?" I can just imagine these little kids all "growed up" in high school.

Don't see Lloyd, even if you are begged to. It is a ho-o-orible film, reserved only for those who have the mind to give "Police Academy 22.5 and three quarters" 5/5 stars.

Lloyd gets a whopper from me...a whopping 1/5 stars!

My eyes! my beautiful eyes!

[monkey_fighter · 11 July 2004]

DON'T WATCH PLEASE. DON'T EVEN READ THIS REVIEW JUST POKE YOUR EYES OUT RIGHT NOW AND POP YOUR EARDRUMS

Oh my god! Whilst flicking through the sky movies channels i happened across this little "gem". This film has no redeemable features at all, i mean its extremely bad and its a wonder that it ever got to the scriptwriting stage. I've watched some hilariously bad films in my time (Octopus 2 anyone?) but this was so bad my arteries suddenly needing a pressure release via my wrists. The "hero" of the film is one of the most disfigured kids around, the acting throughout is diabolical (see the scene where his little brother is trying to make him fight the school bully). The ending of the film is so abrupt I only knew the film had ended when the next one started playing, a John Travolta suit and a spaghetti fight are all thats needed to defeat the bully and get the girl.

If you want more action watch pride and prejudice, if you want a better script watch Battlefield Earth if you want more comedy watch Saving Private Ryan, but please don't give Lloyd the dignity of one and a half hours of your life, and if you see someone called Lloyd just hit them for me.

Well I'm off to boil some pasta get some sauce, some mince, go down to the local fancy dress store and get the girl of my dreams.

Wow...

[Charles_Bronson · 8 July 2003]

When I was around 9 years old (1994)...in that area, 3 movies came out that changed my life: Three Ninjas, Sandlot and...Little Giants...which starred Todd Bosley as Jake Berman. After seeing how not many kids from Little Giants succeeded in the business, I was shocked to see Bosley himself in this.

Todd Bosley plays a kid who thinks he's ugly [why not short? In Little Giants, he was about the same height]. The girl he falls for is some chick who acts like a goodie two-shoes and falls for the wrong guy...some jerk named 'Storm'. Even if this film wasn't exactly high budget, it at least had moments where I laughed and moments where I felt sorry for him. It's a heartwarming movie.

Lets just say I got a little weepy at moments. I'm not talking about the movie, but the star, Todd Bosley. It's just hard to see the kid stop being a kid anymore. I was used to him being little Jake Berman in 'Little Giants' and now he's 19 years old. When this movie was made, he was 17...and playing the role of about a 11-12 year old kid. Thats embarassing. I hope that Bosley gets more film roles, even if low budget like this.

Amazing Movie

[Misfit7 · 22 September 2002]

What can I say, I absolutely love this movie. I saw it on HBO a while back and loved it but I was never able to catch it again. But last week I got it on DVD so I can watch this great movie whenever I want. It is funny and heartwarming. Todd Bosley gives a terrific performance as Lloyd. Two big thumbs up.