Jimmy the Kid is a 1982

1982 in film

-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...

 comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 film starring Gary Coleman

Gary Coleman

Gary Wayne Coleman was an American actor, known for his childhood role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and for his small stature as an adult. He was described in the 1980s as "one of television's most promising stars". After a successful childhood acting career, Coleman...

 and Paul Le Mat

Paul Le Mat

Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...

. It was directed by Gary Nelson

Gary Nelson (director)

Gary Nelson is an American television and film director. He has directed many well-know television series, including Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, Gilligan's Island and Happy Days among dozens of others...

, produced by Ronald Jacobs, and released in November 1982 by New World Pictures. Following 1981's On the Right Track

On the Right Track

On the Right Track is a 1981 comedy film that was the first feature film starring Gary Coleman. It was directed by Lee Philips, produced by Ronald Jacobs, and released to theaters by 20th Century Fox in the spring of 1981.-Background:...

, it was second theatrical film release starring Coleman.

Primary Cast

• Gary Coleman
  Gary Coleman
  Gary Wayne Coleman was an American actor, known for his childhood role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and for his small stature as an adult. He was described in the 1980s as "one of television's most promising stars". After a successful childhood acting career, Coleman...
  
   - Jimmy
• Paul Le Mat
  Paul Le Mat
  Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
  
   - John Dortmunder
  John Dortmunder
  John Archibald Dortmunder is a fictional character created by Donald E. Westlake, and who is the 'hero' of 14 novels and 11 short stories published between 1970 and 2009. He first appeared in the novel The Hot Rock, published in 1970....
  
  
• Ruth Gordon
  Ruth Gordon
  Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
  
  - Bernice
• Dee Wallace - May
• Cleavon Little
  Cleavon Little
  Cleavon Jake Little was an American film and theatre actor.Little was widely known for his lead role as Sheriff Bart in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles. He also was the irreverent Dr...
  
   - Herb
• Don Adams
  Don Adams
  Don Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
  
  - Harry Walker
• Pat Morita
  Pat Morita
  Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...
  
  - Maurice

Reception

Overall, critical reception of the family-friendly comedy was on the negative side. Even Gene Siskel

Gene Siskel

Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....

, who called himself "one of few Americans who publicly declared his affection for On the Right Track" concluded that the follow-up was "definitely on the wrong track."
Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

also found little to like in the film, but admitted that kids may well enjoy it.