By The Nerdling

Seeing the pop-culture packed Ready Player One (ready my review here) over the weekend and re-reading the book (again) had me thinking back to some of my favorite 80’s movies.  The ones you watch to feel like a kid again when your day has sucked.  *batteries not included is towards the top of that list.  A charming film which follows a group of tenants in a rundown apartment building starring Jessica Tandy, Hume Cornyn, Frank McRae, Elizabeth Pena, Dennis Boutsikaris and Michael Carmine.

The apartment building is being targeted by a wealthy property developer, Lacey, to be torn down to make room for office buildings.  The residents are Frank and Faye Riley, an older married couple who run a diner in the building, Mason, a struggling artist, Marisa, a pregnant woman, and Harry, a former boxer who is now the super.  They refuse to move prompting Lacey to hire a thug, Carlos, and his crew to try and pay off them off.  When that doesn’t work, the crew look to bully them out.

One night, after Carlos and his guys break various object in the tenant’s places and destroy the diner, two extra-terrestrial, flying robots arrive and fix all of the damage.  Faye who suffers from dementia discovers them first and immediately befriends the “Fix-its” as she dubs them.  The Fix-Its start to nest in an old pigeon coop on the roof of the apartment building as the female gives birth to three little Fix-its.  The rag tag group bond together to take care of each other and their new friends.

Being an 80’s flick, there are plenty of negative racial stereotypes, but that shouldn’t get in the way of enjoying this loveable movie about miracles, the family you make for yourself, bonding with your neighbors, and accepting, not fearing, what is different.  A perfect movie for a family night or if you are babysitting a group of little ones.  The Fix-its will delight.