Simply Perfect

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The movie Swindle is a good movie starting with a flash forward and then sets you in a story in which teenagers who are swindled ( To cheat a person, business, etc. out of money or other assets.) (definition form dictionary.com) by a man, ironically named Mr.Swindell, to sell him an, unknown to them yet, a 1.2 million dollar baseball card, which they spend the rest of the movie trying to get back (through some questionable methods like hacking, crashing a wedding and, yes, swindling. It's sort-of a more child friendly, light hearted version of Oceans 11 and a good movie over all made even better with great sets, writing, sound track and acting.

Lately, it seems Nickelodeon has been going downhill from the releases of their new series', but when I saw them advertising for one of my favorite books I read in elementary school, I thought "Great. Now they're going to make a mockery out of this book." Surprisingly, that didn't happen. It flowed out smooth enough to take in the movie without too many judgements, but it didn't completely elude my judging. There were 2 things I didn't care for in this TV movie. One being it verged from the original story a bit. I kept waiting for the part when Ben would reveal his narcolepsy, but that never happened. Aside from that, I was disappointed that the final heist never happened in Swindel's house, instead in a hotel lobby. Nick definitely took away the most suspenseful part. The second thing I did not care for were Noah and Jennette's characters. Savannah was meant to be the animal lover and the dog whisperer. Instead she was an actress with really no part. Ariana's character wasn't even "Pitch", instead she simply went by "Amanda" (Which wasn't even her real name in the book). However, though Nick left out some of the scenes I was hoping to see, they did a pretty decent job and is easily re-watchable.

First and foremost, this is a NICKELODEON TV MOVIE. If you are expecting an Oscar winning performance or storyline, some reevaluation of your life should be done. Keeping that in mind, this movie is probably one of the best kid's made for TV films I've seen in a long time. Although, it wasn't laugh out loud funny, it definitely kept my attention through out the entire 120 minutes. The story was VERY well done. All of the characters were quirky and like able. And the character development in a few of the characters (Darren and Amanda) were really cute(for lack of better words). I didn't personally read the book, but the changes should be no surprise to anyone.All in all, this movie was really good. Something the kids can watch with adults, but without the latter dying of boredom. I definitely recommend it for those who aren't ridiculously and unnecessarily critical.

As a film, the way it is, is pretty good. I don't know how different it is from the book adaption but it's not bad. Some movies will be very different from their book version but they're still faithful to the story which is what the movie still does. The actors do a good job. Noah Munck plays a great bully, I always thought so. I wish he could've had more to do. Noah Crawford and Chris O'Neal play good best friends, which was also visible in the former show, How to Rock. Jennette McCurdy, as Savannah, has to pale in comparison to herself (see her in Law & Order, Strong Medicine, Judging Amy, Medium, Ben & Kate, etc) which makes her end up being comical when Savannah has to be someone other than herself. Savannah was originally a dog whisperer, which came in handy in the book, I guess to distract the guard dogs. In the movie, she's meant to distract Swindell and the man he was originally going to sell the baseball card to. It's nice seeing Ariana Grande play the popular girl who's also a gymnast. And as the popular girl, she's surprisingly likable. It's too bad though that she doesn't literally kick butt though. And Ciara Bravo plays a great tech sidekick. The chemistry between all the actors is just perfect and I love how they work together and work off each other. I will say though that it's probably not a good idea to start the movie near the end and go back to the beginning but I digress. Aside from that, I love how the movie starts, moves along, and ends. It's an intense and fun film to watch.