I was 10 years old in 1982 - when this film came out. And I remember this movie as an adult because it was a pretty good movie for it's time era. Looking back on the film: the kids were complete brats in the beginning of the movie - they were in need of a step-father. The kids just did not realize it until Brewster Baker (Rogers) showed up. Oddly enough, Brewster didn't realize just how much he was wanting kids of his own until he ended up with a 6-pack of them.

This is a heartwarming story. A man and six kids who found out they needed each other more than they could ever imagine.

7.5/10

Brewster Baker (Kenny Rogers) is a washed-out race car driver. His car parts get stolen. He chases after the thieves who drive their van off a bridge. Brewster is shocked to find the thieves are actually six kids. He saves the youngest Little Harry from the river. Heather/Breezy (Diane Lane) is the oldest of the orphaned siblings. They steal for corrupt Sheriff Big John (Barry Corbin) to stay together. Brewster is quickly arrested but the kids break him out. His girlfriend bar waitress Lilah (Erin Gray) pushes him to be a reluctant father figure and they become his diminutive pit crew.

Kenny Rogers is not the greatest actor but he's good enough here. I liked this a lot when I was a kid. The six pack is compelling and I really root for them. There's a young Diane Lane and an even younger Anthony Michael Hall. The story is sweet. The kids are all familiar with foul language and Swifty is the loudest. It's a family film of that era. It's also a movie that is always going to have a happy ending. In addition, there is plenty of race track action.

The kids say funny things that get laughs, but depending on your views towards bratty child thieves, this comedy can be grating one moment and overly cutesy the next. Rogers is an auto racer trying to make a comeback, and when he stops to get gas, he ends up being locked in a bathroom during which time the kids go to work unseen stealing the engine and other parts from his racing car. Later, while he's eating in a greasy spoon diner, the same thing happens to his regular car and eventually he traces the thieves to a camp out in the middle of nowhere, agreeing to help them get to Shreveport which of course is not the final stop on their journey together as he reluctantly begins taking care of them along with girlfriend Erin Gray.

This is one of those good old boy comedies that became immensely popular in the late 70s thanks to "Smokey and the Bandit", and along with that and the TV series "The Dukes of Hazard", the film contains typical dumb Texas law enforcement, led by Barry Corbin. All we're missing is a Boss Hogg like Big Daddy character to be the comical villain to top things off.

Certainly films involving kids are automatically considered cute for that reason, and they do get the darndest things to say. Diane Lane is the oldest of them, the mother figure as the oldest sister, and they really aren't learning any good moral lessons by being thieves. After a while, this begins presenting the characters along the long drive through Texas as stereotypical hicks, and those who want more sophisticated comedy or at least less cartoonish situations will quickly tune out. Rogers is basically playing himself, rightfully ill-tempered at times because of his situation, and after a while, I began to get irritated as well. Rogers had to put up with his situation. Viewers have other options.