Number Rolled: 64
Movie Name/Year: Invisible
Sister (2015)
Tagline: What you
see is only half the story.
Genre: Family
Length: 77
minutes
Rating: TV-G
Production Companies:
Disney Channel
Producer: Susan
Cartsonis, Michael C. Cuddy, Sheri Singer
Director: Paul
Hoen
Writer: Billy
Eddy, Matt Eddy, Jessica O’Toole, Amy Rardin, Beatrice Colin, Sara Pinto
Actors: Rowan
Blanchard, Paris Berelc, Karan Brar, Rachel Crow, Austin Fryberger, Will
Meyers, Alex Désert, Scott Reeves, Jennifer Jalene, Nikki Fuega, Tiffany
Forest, Sean Maurer
Blurb from Netflix:
When she tries to impress a science teacher with an ambitious experiment, a
teen renders her sister invisible, forcing her to impersonate her sibling.
Selina’s Point of View:
My interest in seeing this film comes from the star, Rowan
Blanchard (Spy Kids: All the Time in the
World 4D, Little in Common, Dance-A-Lot Robot).
I was a huge fan of Boy
Meets World (1993-2000) once upon a time. Naturally, when it was revisited
by Disney as Girl Meets World (2014-)
I was on it like white on rice. I recorded every episode and watched them with
my best friend. He tends to watch it with me because I’m a walking encyclopedia
of anything Cory and Topanga related and I can point out the references most
people miss.
Speaking of, Alex Désert (The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Losing in Love, Let it Shine)
was in this film. He also starred as Mr. Eli Williams, a teacher at Cory’s
school, during season 3 of Boy Meets
World.
Blanchard is a familiar face on Girl Meets World. There she plays Riley, the daughter of Cory and Topanga.
On the show, I find her acting talent measures up to Ben Savage (Car Babes, Swimming Upstream, The
Caterpillar’s Kimono) in the beginning years of Boy Meets World: slightly over-the-top but promising.
When I found out she was recently in a new movie by Disney,
I wanted to see if that talent carried over into another, hopefully different,
character.
The character was very different than Riley. So I did get to
see her in a slightly new vehicle, which was nice. Better yet, I think she was
phenomenal.
Blanchard has a way with emotional scenes. I don’t know if
it’s because she’s dipping into some innate empathy she may have, or because
she’s just that promising of a talent, but it’s true. You make her cry or
express a deep emotion in a scene, and she is going to blow everyone away. She’s
not perfect, of course, and she is very young.
At 14-years-old, this young actress has a lot to learn. She
could especially use some practice in the more physical scenes (physical
comedy, sports, etc), but the talent is there.
I think, as long as she doesn’t fall to the curse of child
actors, Blanchard could have a potentially epic career ahead of her.
The movie itself was nothing too special. I didn’t much like
the other star, Paris Berelc (Lab Rats:
Elite Force, Mighty Med, Health Corner). I don’t have any familiarity at
all with her, though. So it could be a one-time flop for her.
In the end, this was your basic Disney TV movie. Not really
for my generation. I bet preteens and young teenagers, however, would love it.
Cat’s Point of View:
I was excited when this movie came up, because it was the
first in a while that I could share with my kiddo. The Disney XD channel is one
of her favorites, so she recognized the actors, and even got all bouncy because
she remembered seeing the previews. She’d just missed it when it aired. (So did
I, but there’s only so much of that channel I can take.)
The movie was adorable, and resonating. I think everyone can
relate to feeling invisible every once in a while. It doesn’t even have to be
at home – there are plenty situations ‘out in the world’ where it happens, too.
You don’t have to be part of a big family, either, to get that invisible
feeling.
This film definitely wasn’t all fluff. For that reason, it
didn’t surprise me that it was drawing on a novel. I might just hunt it up for
my daughter to read. (OK, maybe me too.)
I enjoyed the science teacher angle in the story. There’s a fun bit of trivia regarding that
actor, as well. In fun “six degrees” fashion; Alex Désert (Bob Funk, Let it Shine!, The LeBrons) played teacher Eli Williams
on the 90’s family sitcom, Boy Meets
World (1993-2000).
The star of this film, Rowan Blanchard (The Back-Up Plan, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, Best
Friends Whenever), just happens to also be one of the stars of Boy Meets World’s sequel - Girl Meets World (2014-).
Fun facts aside, I think they did a great job with casting
this one. Blanchard and her on-screen sister, Paris Berelc (Health Corner, Mighty Med, Lab Rats: Elite
Force), have good sibling chemistry. The dynamic between Blanchard’s
character, Chloe; and her guy BFF, George, played by Karan Brar (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Chilly Christmas,
Jessie) was lots of fun.
I won’t lie. There were a few plot holes, but I don’t think
they ultimately took away from the story.
If you’re looking for a cute family movie, this one has the
right formula!
(It also has two thumbs up from my in-house Disney fanatic.)
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 2.5/5
Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3/5
Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 2.5/5
Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score
– 3/5
P.S. Some repeat
scenes during the credits. It is also based on a novel, “My Invisible Sister,” by
Beatrice Colin and Sara Pinto.
Movie Trailer:
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