Bogus

Haley Joel Osment is pretty much an insufferable little moptop, but Whoopi Goldberg and Gerard Depardieu make magic in this fanciful high concept dramatic comedy about a young boy who invents an imaginary friend, a hulking Frenchman named Bogus, in the aftermath of his mother's death. He is sent to live with her long-lost foster sister who complains, "I don't have a motherly bone in my body." You can guess the rest, but the pleasure lies in watching Whoopi's hardened character surrender to the fantasy. Interesting sidebar: at variance with Showgirls, the beginning of this film makes Las Vegas look like the most nurturing child-rearing environment since Boys Town. (K. Lee Benson)