I went in just hoping this was decent. Not a chance.

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2002)

I figured-out the message in this movie within the first 10 minutes because it's the same old garbage heartstring plot Hollywood has sold in many packages over the years.
I challenge ANYONE to defend the incredibly silly bits. Aliens that can fly between star systems but have to use patterns in corn crops to navigate/coordinate once they get to Earth. They can also be locked in pantries but have ways of flattening corn for miles and their only weapon is a little tube which expels poison gas about 4 inches away from their wrists. Absolutely the worst looking movie alien in years! Moved like claymation figure, always in shadows, not one "smart" sign in anything they did.
The kids show about as much emotion as department store mannequins... for instance, when the family dog dies he only rates one sniff and no tears... after going under in a spine-chilling asthma attack, the kid (Culkin), wakes and immediately says "did someone save me?" I'm sure if you look in comic book stores you could find much more surprizing and intelligent dialog than the moronic exchanges between these unbelievable characters. For instance... in an Army Recruiting station we learn by the sudden recognition from the local military recruiter that Phoenix has the long-distance home-run record in local minor league baseball.. then... suddenly... a character pipes up after keeping silent throughout the whole silly monologue to say that he also holds the strike-out record. Both the recruiter and the suddenly appearing local kid look and act like characters out of cartoons.
Terribly slow pace for little emotionally engaging or suspenseful dialog. Bad acting, bad casting (noone looks like family here), silly plot which puts the extraterrestrials last in line of importance... yuch. The popcorn was much better than the movie.
Swing away... swing away!!!!