Whenever something becomes incredibly successful it will undoubtedly have imitators. Usually these rip-offs are simply unoriginal, dull, or watered down. "Mac and Me" is perhaps the most blatent ET rip-off ever and at the same time manages to transcend the usual rip-off-film shortcomings and become hilariously bad in its own right. Most of the bad movie laughs in this film are a result of either its attempts to be cute and endearing, or of the most shameless marketing I have ever seen.

The story begins with a family of aliens who crash to Earth for some reason and are subsequently chased by the government or military (it doesn't matter which). One of the aliens gets splattered across a chain link fence in one of the movie's more ludicrous scenes. "Mac" the alien escapes and finds refuge in some generic family's home. There the movie begins in earnest the film's attempt to be cute and endearing. We meet the painfully cliched kid-who-befriends-the-cute-alien. Perhaps the filmmakers were trying to break from this cliche, or maybe they needed to make the kid more sympathetic, but, whatever the reason, they make a big deal about his being in a wheelchair, even though this fact doesn't advance the plot or make the character more likeable at all. In fact the only time it's important is when he rolls off a cliff in his wheelchair, and Mac saves him with his special alien powers.

Most movies have some sort of product placement. This movie features the most overt example of this in film history. The sole sustenance of E.T.'s--er, Mac's species is Pepsi. Yes, Pepsi. Coke just won't do for these aliens, who, while not speaking a word of English, are quite adamant as to what brand of soda they need to survive. In fact the alien family raids a supermarket for Pepsi late in the movie and in the process becomes surrounded by the military/army/Coca-Cola corporation.

Anyway, wheelchair kid gets shot and killed by the evil military guys. Then Mac brings him back to life, and the military guys just walk off. The last scene is the most absurd of the entire movie, and believe me, it had plenty of competition: the alien family dons regular human clothes, goes to church, then drives away in a convertible.

Rating: 4 turkeys.