''Bogus'' is a 1996 American

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...

from a screenplay written by Alvin Sargent, and starring

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...

, and

Haley Joel Osment Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor and voice actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film '' Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the psyc ...

. It features magic tricks with magician

Whit Haydn Whit "Pop" Haydn (born July 19, 1949 as Whitney Wesley Hadden in Clarksville, Tennessee) is an American magician, and the winner of seven performing awards (for performances in showrooms at the Magic Castle) from the Academy of Magical Arts. ...

as consultant. It did poorly at the box office and Goldberg was nominated for a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

for her performance. It was filmed in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Plot

A fantasy, ''Bogus'' tells the story of seven-year-old Albert Franklin (

), the son of a Las Vegas showgirl (

Nancy Travis Nancy Ann Travis (born September 21, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on Off-Broadway theater, before her first leading screen role in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television miniseries ''Harem'' opposite Omar Sharif. ...

). His mother dies suddenly in a car accident and Albert, who is now an orphan, is sent to New Jersey to live with his mother's foster sister, Harriet (

). The plot is about Albert, and his imaginary friend named Bogus (

), a French magician, who helps the boy cope with his transition. Gradually Harriet, who can also see Bogus, comes to terms with her new situation as well.

Cast

as Harriet Franklin *

as Bogus *

as Albert Franklin *

as Lorraine Franklin *

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

as Penny * Denis Mercier as Monsieur Antoine *

Ute Lemper Ute Gertrud Lemper (; born 4 July 1963) is a German singer and actress. Her roles in musicals include playing Sally Bowles in the original Paris production of ''Cabaret'', for which she won the 1987 Molière Award for Best Newcomer, and Velm ...

as Babette *

Sheryl Lee Ralph Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in the 1977 comedy film '' A Piece of the Action'', before landing the role of Deena Jones in the Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she received a ...

as Ruth Clark *

Al Waxman Albert Samuel Waxman, (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1,000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series '' King of Kensingto ...

as School Principal *

Fiona Reid Fiona Reid, CM (born 24 July 1951) is an English-born Canadian television, film, and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as Cathy on the TV series ''King of Kensington'' and Harriet Miller in the film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding''. E ...

as School Teacher * Kevin Jackson as Bob Morrison *

Richard Portnow Richard Portnow (born January 26, 1947) is an American actor known for such films and television series as ''Good Morning, Vietnam'', ''Barton Fink'', ''Kindergarten Cop'', '' Seven'', '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'', '' The Spirit'', ''L ...

as M. Clay Thrasher *

Stefan Batory Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

as M. Clay Fisher * Barbara Hamilton as Mrs. Partridge

Filming location

Although portrayed as Newark, NJ, part of the film was filmed in the

Van Vorst Park Van Vorst Park is a neighborhood in the Historic Downtown of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, centered on a park sharing the same name. The neighborhood is located west of Paulus Hook and Marin Boulevard, north of Grand Street, east of t ...

neighborhood of

Downtown Jersey City Downtown is an area of Jersey City, New Jersey, which includes the Historic Downtown and the Waterfront. Historic Downtown Historic Downtown was an area of mostly low-rise buildings to the west of the waterfront, but by the 2000s a number of h ...

. The apartment building that the character, Harriet, lives in at the corner of York Street and Barrow Street is called Madison on the Van Vorst Park.

Release

''Bogus'' opened at #11 in its opening weekend with $1,895,593 and grossed $4,357,406 in the US.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 41% of 17 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5/10. Leonard Klady of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "Sweetly sentimental and anachronistically whimsical, ''Bogus'' is a modern metaphor oddly out of step with contemporary taste."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Jewison lays on the dry ice and special effects without adding emotion to a slow, hackneyed story."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' rated it 3/4 stars and called it "a charming, inconsequential fantasy" that wisely avoids realism. Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade of "B+" on a scale of A+ to F.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bogus (film) 1996 films 1990s children's comedy films 1990s fantasy comedy films American children's comedy films American children's fantasy films American fantasy comedy films Films about orphans Films directed by Norman Jewison Films scored by Marc Shaiman Films set in the Las Vegas Valley Films set in New Jersey Films shot in Atlantic City, New Jersey Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley Films shot in Toronto Regency Enterprises films Warner Bros. films 1996 comedy films Films produced by Arnon Milchan 1990s English-language films 1990s American films