Editing Max Keeble's Big Move

{{short description|2001 film by Tim Hill}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Max Keeble's Big Move
| image = MaxKeeble.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Tim Hill (director)|Tim Hill]]
| producer = Mike Karz
| screenplay = {{ubl|Jonathan Bernstein|Mark Blackwell|[[James Greer (writer)|James Greer]]}}
| story = {{ubl|David Watts|Jonathan Bernstein|Mark Blackwell|James Greer}}
| starring = {{ubl|[[Alex D. Linz]]|[[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]]|[[Jamie Kennedy]]|[[Nora Dunn]]|[[Robert Carradine]]}}
| music = [[Michael Wandmacher]]
| cinematography = [[Arthur Albert]]
| editing = {{ubl|Tony Lombardo|Peck Prior}}
| studio = {{ubl|[[Walt Disney Pictures]]|Karz Entertainment}}
| distributor = [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Pictures Distribution]]
| released = {{Film date|2001|10|5}}
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $25 million<ref name=BOM>{{cite web| url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=maxkeeblesbigmove.htm| title = Max Keeble's Big Move (2001)| publisher = Box Office Mojo, LLC.| access-date = 2006-11-24| archive-date = 2018-12-16| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181216031059/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=maxkeeblesbigmove.htm| url-status = live}}</ref>
| gross = $18.6 million<ref name=BOM/>
}}
'''''Max Keeble's Big Move''''' is a 2001 American [[comedy film]] directed by [[Tim Hill (director)|Tim Hill]], written by David L. Watts, [[James Greer (writer)|James Greer]], Jonathan Bernstein and Mark Blackwell and starring [[Alex D. Linz]], [[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]], [[Jamie Kennedy]], [[Nora Dunn]], and [[Robert Carradine]]. The plot follows the eponymous Max and his friends, who begin going to junior high school only to learn Max and his family will soon move elsewhere; Max resolves to get even with those who [[bully]] him and his friends before he leaves since he will not remain long enough to face discipline for anything he does.

The film was released in the United States on October 5, 2001, by [[Walt Disney Pictures]]. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb that grossed $18 million against its $25 million budget.

==Plot==
Max Keeble is a 12-year-old [[paperboy]] who starts his first day of [[middle school]]. Max is antagonized by the corrupt, megalomaniacal, and tyrannical school principal, Elliot T. Jindrake; school bullies Troy McGinty and Dobbs; and the Evil Ice Cream Man. Max also learns that an [[animal shelter]] he visits next to the school is being closed to build Jindrake's opulent football stadium. One day, Max's father reveals that because of his job, he and the family will be relocating to [[Chicago]] for his boss, because he is unable to stand up for himself. Max realizes that he is free to do whatever he wants to his tormentors, facing no consequences because he will be gone by then.

Enlisting his equally socially outcast friends Robe and Megan, Max sets up a variety of pranks. These include traumatizing Troy by playing the main theme song of the children's television show ''MacGoogles the Highlander Frog'' (which frightened him as a child), then trapping him in the gym with someone wearing a MacGoogles costume; instigating a fight between Dobbs and the Evil Ice Cream Man by stealing the coolant coil for the [[ice cream van|ice cream truck]] and Dobbs' [[Personal digital assistant|handheld device]]; and ruining Jindrake's chances of becoming successor to the current superintendent, Bobby "Crazy Legs" Knebworth (an alumnus who was a star football player for the school) by planting animal [[pheromones]] within his breath spray, instigating a food fight in the cafeteria in view of Superintendent Knebworth, and later by sabotaging his TV announcements by placing a cardboard cutout of Max mocking him.

After Max's missions are completed, Jindrake, Troy and Dobbs somehow find out that Max was behind all the pranks he pulled off. Later, Max ends up ditching Robe and Megan's going-away party by accepting an invitation to a milkshake party hosted by his crush Jenna, causing a falling-out. Robe tells Max how Megan [[limerence|really feels about him]], and then walks away telling Max that he hopes he enjoys his new life in Chicago. Max then calls Megan's house, telling her mom to relay to her that he is sorry for what happened. Taking Max's earlier advice to heart, Max's dad announces that he quit his job and will start his own business, meaning that Max is not moving after all. Max freaks out at this news, and learns that other students at his school are suffering because of his actions.

Max confronts Jindrake, Troy, and Dobbs one final time, and with the help of other students at his school, Max eventually defeats Troy and Dobbs for good by throwing them into the dumpster with his schoolmates' help and stops Jindrake from demolishing the animal shelter. Jindrake is dismissed from his job as principal and faces criminal charges for [[Embezzlement|manipulating the school budget]] in order to build his stadium after Max tricked him into publicly admitting to his crimes earlier.

==Cast==
* [[Alex D. Linz]] as Max Keeble, a junior high school student. 
* [[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]] as Principal Elliot T. Jindrake, the corrupt and tyrannical principal.
* [[Jamie Kennedy]] as the Evil Ice Cream Man, an unnamed ice cream vendor who plans revenge on Max ever since the latter found a bug in a snow cone and his mother called the health department on him.
* Zena Grey as Megan, Max's female friend.
* [[Josh Peck]] as Robe, the robe-wearing friend of Max.
* [[Nora Dunn]] as Lily Keeble, Max's mother.
* [[Robert Carradine]] as Donald Keeble, Max's father.
* [[Clifton Davis]] as Superintendent Bobby "Crazy Legs" Knebworth, a former football player and the superintendent of the school district that Max's school is in.
* [[Amy Hill]] as Ms. Phyllis Rangoon, Principal Jindrake's secretary.
* [[Amber Valletta]] as Ms. Nicole Dingman, one of Max's teachers.
* Veronica Alicino as Ms. Talia, Max's strict social studies teacher, and one of Dobbs' friends.
* [[Noel Fisher]] as Troy McGinty, one of Max's bullies.
* [[Orlando Brown (actor)|Orlando Brown]] as Dobbs, one of Max's bullies who gets into a feud with the Evil Ice Cream Man whenever Dobbs poaches his customers.
* [[Justin Berfield]] as Caption writer.
* Brooke Anne Smith as Jenna, the love interest of Max.
* [[Myra (singer)|Myra Ambriz]] as Chelsea.
* [[Dennis Haskins]] as Mr. Kohls, one of Max's teachers.
* [[Chely Wright]] as Mrs. Styles, the homeroom teacher.

'''Cameos'''
* [[Tony Hawk]] as himself.
* [[Romeo Miller|Lil' Romeo]] as himself.
* [[Hopsin|Marcus Hopson]] as Pizza parlor guy.

==Reception==
===Box office===
''Max Keeble's Big Move'' grossed $17.3 million in the United States and Canada and $1.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $18.6 million, against a production budget of $25 million.<ref name=BOM />

The film grossed $5.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing 7th at the box office.

===Critical response===
On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''Max Keeble's Big Move'' has an approval rating of 29% based on 56 reviews, and an [[Weighted arithmetic mean|average rating]] of 4.31/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''Max Keeble'' may be fun for kids, but bland and unoriginal for adults."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/max_keebles_big_move/ |title=Max Keeble's Big Move (2001) |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-date=September 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908163146/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/max_keebles_big_move |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score 40 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/max-keebles-big-move |title=Max Keeble's Big Move reviews |publisher=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-date=December 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203154805/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/max-keebles-big-move |url-status=live }}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.cinemascore.com/ |title=Max Keeble's Big Move - CinemaScore |work=[[CinemaScore]].com |access-date=2017-01-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}<!--added above External links/Sources by script-assisted edit-->

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{official website|http://movies.disney.com/max-keebles-big-move}}
* {{IMDb title|0273799|Max Keeble's Big Move}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|max_keebles_big_move|Max Keeble's Big Move}}
* {{mojo title|maxkeeblesbigmove|Max Keeble's Big Move}}

{{Tim Hill}}

[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:2000s children's comedy films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2001 comedy films]]
[[Category:2001 films]]
[[Category:American children's comedy films]]
[[Category:American films about revenge]]
[[Category:English-language comedy films]]
[[Category:Films about bullying]]
[[Category:Films about educators]]
[[Category:Films about pranks]]
[[Category:Films directed by Tim Hill]]
[[Category:Films scored by Michael Wandmacher]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:Middle school films]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Pictures films]]