---
title: "Mac and Me: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/mac-and-me/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/mac-and-me"
critics_score: 19
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Mac and Me (1988): what the critics said

Critics' score 19 from 7 reviews: 0 positive, 0 mixed, 7 negative.

The reviews are unanimously negative on Mac and Me, with most critics finding an E.T. imitation whose alien friendship story is overwhelmed by product placement. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola recur in complaints that the film gives selling things more attention than storytelling, while the alien designs and basic filmmaking draw further criticism. The limited praise centres on the casting and treatment of the wheelchair-using young lead, which several critics find refreshingly free of sentimentality or exploitation.

The spread is narrow: no review offers even a mixed assessment, though the critics differ over what deserves rescuing. The Los Angeles Times finds charm in the lead performance and some life in the camera style, whereas The AV Club condemns the puppetry, alien design and filmmaking. Time Out’s approval of the child star’s treatment is similarly qualified by its finding that the direction lacks wit or invention.

## Los Angeles Times — Michael Wilmington

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 August 1988. 

The critic describes the film as an unoriginal, bald-faced copy of E.T. overloaded with McDonald's product placement and weak execution. He singles out the lively camera style and the charming performance of the young wheelchair-using lead actor for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-15-ca-300-story.html)

## Empire — Mark Salisbury

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The critic sees the film as little more than a blatant marketing exercise packed with product placement for McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Skittles, overshadowing any story about an alien befriending a disabled boy. The only relief comes at the end, with relief that no sequels followed its commercial failure.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/mac-2-review/)

## Slant Magazine — Keith Uhlich

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 2007. 

The critic humorously declares a day for the film but recounts its ridiculous scenes like the wheelchair cliff plunge and breakdancing, concluding it's soul-destroying.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/mac-and-me-day/)

## Time Out — TCh

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 

The critic praises the film's non-sentimental, non-exploitative handling of its wheelchair-using child star but finds little else worthwhile. The direction lacks wit or invention, the story is a blatant E.T. knockoff, and it is overwhelmed by product placement and crass commercialism.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mac-and-me)

## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2009. 

The critic lambasts the film as a shameless E.T. knockoff filled with blatant product placement for McDonald's and Coca-Cola, criticizing its poor puppetry, incompetent filmmaking, and repulsive alien design.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/ronald-mcdonald-approved-case-file-151-mac-and-me-1798218494)

## Collider — Lloyd Farley

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 31 May 2024. 

The critic describes Mac and Me as a failed E.T. rip-off with bad acting and laughable alien designs, hampered by blatant product placement from McDonald's and Coca-Cola. He notes its lasting impact through Paul Rudd's Conan gag and Jennifer Aniston's early appearance.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/mac-and-me-mcdonalds/)

## Consequence — Clint Worthington

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 21 August 2018. 

The critic calls Mac and Me a blatant, soulless rip-off of E.T. loaded with product placement, a completely derivative disaster that represents crass 80s consumerism enabled by Reagan-era deregulation. He praises the progressive casting of a disabled actor but notes the cheap look and feel.

[Read the review](https://consequence.net/2018/08/mac-and-me-how-ronald-reagan-paved-the-way-for-one-of-the-worst-kids-movies-ever/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/mac-and-me.md