Release Date:  April 4, 2006
Rating:  PG (mild thematic elements and brief language)
Genre:  Family Comedy
Run Time: 84 min.
Director:  Mark Levin
Actors:  Josh Hutcherson, Charlie Ray, Cynthia Nixon, Bradley Whitford and Willie Garson

Ah, puppy love – the agony and the ecstasy.  Do you remember?

Gabe (Josh Hutcherson, “Kicking and Screaming”) is your average 10 ½ year old boy, living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  He goes to school, plays with his friends and rides a scooter around the nine-block perimeter mapped out by his parents, Adam (Bradley Whitford, “The West Wing”) and Leslie (Cynthia Nixon, “Sex and the City”).  Dad and Mom are in the midst of a divorce, but because real estate is so expensive in New York, they’re still living together.  Adam sleeps on the couch.

This situation is teaching Gabe, who narrates the story throughout, some powerful lessons about life.  “Love ends,” he says, unequivocally.  “Want proof?  Just check out my parent’s refrigerator.”  The fridge he refers to is divided – and clearly labeled – into Leslie’s food and Adam's food.   And just like real life, never the ‘twain shall meet.

Another division in Gabe’s life is the one between girls and boys, which occurred after first grade, he says, when “the iron curtain” came down between the sexes.  “Girls were there,” he says.  “I just didn’t see them.  I lived in a world of men.”  So, while Gabe has known Rosemary (Charlie Ray), the “third prettiest girl” in his fifth-grade class, since kindergarten, he hasn’t really noticed her.  One day, all that changes when she arrives for karate practice.  Gabe’s heart starts thumping – a very strange feeling, but one that he likes.  A lot.

Rosemary, the daughter of wealthy television producers, is being raised by her nanny.  She’s better than Gabe at karate, but offers to help him.  Together, they practice, as an imaginary Kung-Fu master/mentor gives Gabe invisible lessons and advice.  “Kiss her!” he orders, after Gabe pins Rosemary to the floor.  But the young boy is far too shy, and the moment passes.  He and Rosemary spend lots of time together during the next two weeks, exploring Gabe’s “territory” and once venturing out to see a potential apartment for his dad – which gets him grounded.  Gabe still can’t bring himself to kiss Rosemary, however he does hold her hand – once.  Then he learns that she’s going to camp for the rest of the summer, and he’s devastated.  Will he ever have the courage to tell her the truth about his feelings?  And will she reciprocate?