My Hometown: Uncle's Birthday

In this dramatic half-hour from the My Hometown series (26 episodes), hockey-nut Thomas has a chance to attend an NHL game, but his plans are shut-out after a face-off with his mom. When she insists that Thomas attend his uncle's birthday party--much to the boy's immense disgust--he whines and complains to his friends, hatching cutesy plots to sneak off to the game anyway. Until his little sister snitches on him and he's forced to go to the party (sulking all the while), where he learns that Uncle George is suffering from some unspecified fatal disease. At which point Thomas overreacts in the opposite direction, suddenly seeing how precious and wonderful his uncle is and how much he loves him. Gag. While the production values here are of the highest quality, this video--which is billed as a discussion-starting look at sickness and family loyalty--is a bit of schmaltz which utterly fails to make its point. (One suspects a hockey game would be a lot more fun). Maybe other titles in the series are better, but this one's strictly an optional purchase, especially considering the price. Aud: I, J. (R. Reagan)