Daily Variety: Joel is cute in that "Mikey likes it" kind of way

From Daily Variety:

"Super 8" establishes a star-crossed backstory for middle schoolers Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney, cute in that "Mikey likes it" kind of way) and Alice Dainard ("Somewhere's" ever-remarkable Elle Fanning). His father is a newly widowed sheriff's deputy (Kyle Chandler); hers, a drunken, long-haired factory worker (Ron Eldard) indirectly responsible for the accident that killed Joe's mother -- an incident wisely left unseen.