Successful man sees himself in a harrassed child

In spite of its title and the seven-year age limit, "The Kid" is no children's movie. Children who were in the theatre at the opening night demonstrated audibly that they were bored. The target group are most probably career-oriented males in their forties, but I doubt that those will find their way to the theatres.
The film can best be described as a cross between a psychoterapeutic variation on "Big" (1988), although showing a man who reclaims the boy in him, and Frank Capra's existential classic "Life Is Wonderful" (1946). In "The Kid" an arrogant, cynical and emotionally cold careermonger's (Bruce Willis) working day is interrupted by an eight-year-old boy (Spencer Breslin) who simply shows up in his luxury home protected by security systems. The boy turns out to be himself as an overweight, insecure and harrassed eight-year-old.
One might think that the boy would envy his adult self his material success, his cholesterol-free health-club body and his psychological armor against the outside world. Instead, it is the forty-year-old who, just like the protagonist in Capra's film, is forced to confront his past, his life choices, only to re-evaluate his definition of success and a happy life.
Interestingly, the existential scenario repeats even in the forthcoming "Family Man", starring Nicholas Cage. But the initial criticism of an inhuman social structure, where a ruthless predatory mentality is awarded and sensitivity is considered a weakness, soon loses its social and political impact in "The Kid".
What remains is an antiquated, sentimental, quasi-psychological therapy trip, where the importance of shedding tears and acquiring a family and a dog is the key to true happiness. Well suited for an arch-conservative Republican like Bruce Willis. The harder to digest for the rest of us.