Jason and I saw this movie over the weekend and we loved it. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I laughed so much at a movie theatre.
A family of hibernating creatures awakens to spring and begin preparing for the gathering of food for the oncoming winter (273 days 'til winter!). Only to discover STEVE. STEVE is the hedge, designed to keep wilderness and suburban sprawl humanely separated.
It is the formula animation film. All the standard moral lessons apply: Family is most important. Good prevails. Even the worst among us is not beyond redemption. Real beauty is inside. Etc.
Dreamworks doesn't take any real chances in this film. The characters are tailor made for the actors giving them voice. Gary Shandling's Vern the turtle is the cautious leader of this interspecies family. Bruce Willis is the cocky, swaggering con man (con racoon?) who leads them all into danger. Steve Carrell is the ADHD squirrel. The angry black skunk is voiced by Wanda Sykes. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hare play the parents of a nice midwestern porcupine family, complete with triplets. Avril Lavigne's turn as Heather the teenage opossum is dead on. (Pun intended.)
William Shatner steals the show as Ozzie, the opossum who takes great pride in playing dead. He doesn't just play dead, he PLAYS dead. Ozzie has that Shakespearean quality that lends itself to a long and dramatic death scene.
Go see this movie.
Some of my favorite lines to watch for:
"You're the devil." Vern
"But I like the cookie!" Hammy
"Rosebud..." Ozzie
--------
Jason and I saw this movie over the weekend and we loved it. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I laughed so much at a movie theatre.
A family of hibernating creatures awakens to spring and begin preparing for the gathering of food for the oncoming winter (273 days 'til winter!). Only to discover STEVE. STEVE is the hedge, designed to keep wilderness and suburban sprawl humanely separated.
It is the formula animation film. All the standard moral lessons apply: Family is most important. Good prevails. Even the worst among us is not beyond redemption. Real beauty is inside. Etc.
Dreamworks doesn't take any real chances in this film. The characters are tailor made for the actors giving them voice. Gary Shandling's Vern the turtle is the cautious leader of this interspecies family. Bruce Willis is the cocky, swaggering con man (con racoon?) who leads them all into danger. Steve Carrell is the ADHD squirrel. The angry black skunk is voiced by Wanda Sykes. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hare play the parents of a nice midwestern porcupine family, complete with triplets. Avril Lavigne's turn as Heather the teenage opossum is dead on. (Pun intended.)
William Shatner steals the show as Ozzie, the opossum who takes great pride in playing dead. He doesn't just play dead, he PLAYS dead. Ozzie has that Shakespearean quality that lends itself to a long and dramatic death scene.
Go see this movie.