Hey, folks. Capone in Chicago here.
Hopefully sometime in the next week or
so I'll finish transcribing my interview with Over the Hedge co-director Tim
Johnson. In the meantime, I offer up my take on film itself. Here's a hint:
I likey.
It's hardly a secret that many family-oriented films of late bite the big
one, if for no other reason then they don't offer up enough entertainment
value for the parents/adults who inevitably end up dragging the kiddies to
go see these films. There are exceptions, including nearly every Pixar film,
every feature from Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run), the
Shrek films, and now Over the Hedge.
While this Dreamworks production
doesn't skimp on the flashy visuals and fart jokes that preteens seem to
adore (I kind of like them too), there's another layer here that I found so
endearing and fun that I can't imagine people not enjoying the heck out of
this little gem.
Bruce Willis voices RJ the raccoon, who is caught stealing food from a
hibernating bear (a terrifyingly gravel-voiced Nick Nolte). He ends up
loosing the food and is given an ultimatum by the bear: replace the food in
a short amount of time or die. In his search for a quick food supply, RJ
stumbles upon a group of woodland creatures that are only just waking up
from hibernation and realizing that during their long winter sleep, suburbia
has cropped up on the outskirts of their forest.
Suddenly their vast food
supply, which they normally begin collecting as soon as they wake, has been
threatened. Fortunately RJ knows a little something about what lies over the
hedge that separates the forest from the homes on the other side and offers
to assist the animals in collecting food (which he will ultimately swipe).
Willis has a commanding, swarthy presence as RJ, a natural leader and
persuader of animals compared to the creatures de facto leader Verne the
turtle (Garry Shandling), who through some freak of nature is not actually
attached to his shell, thus making it removable. Also on hand are Wanda
Sykes as the Stella the skunk (who complains quite a bit about the lack of
willing dates), William Shatner as the overacting possum Ozzie, the
surprisingly effective Avril Lavigne as his daughter Heather, and long-time
comedy partners Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as some sort of
hedgehog-type creatures.
But hands-down the reason to slap down your hard-earned cash to see this
film is an inspired, riotous, insane vocal performance by Steve Carell as
Hammy the squirrel. I laughed at every word that come out of this guy's
mouth. If Dreamworks doesn't include every minute of video footage of
Carell's recording his lines on the DVD for Over the Hedge, there is no God.
I'm sure if Hammy is supposed to be retarded, slow, or just in desperate
need of medication, but he's a miracle of animation. Bless co-directors Tim
Johnson (Antz) and Karey Kirkpatrick (co-writer of Chicken Run, The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the upcoming Charlotte's Web remake)
for selecting Carell (who was hired when he was just that guy from "The
Daily Show") for this part. I should also mention that Thomas Haden Church
voices Dwayne the Verminator, hired by a housewife (Allison Janney) to take
care of the invading animals looking for food. I have a feeling Dwayne was
supposed to be the real comic relief of this film, but Hammy steals all
scenes from all comers.
As with most animated films, an army of writers contributed to the script,
but one name caught my eye as being a part of the team: Len Blum. Blum has
been around a long time in the comedy arena, as a screenwriter on Meatballs,
Stripes, and more recently Howard Stern's Private Parts. I suspect that a
big part of my reason for falling for this film as hard as I did has to do
with his participation in the writing.
The CGI animation style of Over the
Hedge is fairly realistic with being creepily photorealistic (as the recent
The Wild is). There are loads of inventive action sequences, lots of
well-earned laughs (I particularly liked Shatner poking fun as his own
tendency to over-emote and gesture while acting), and nothing particularly
offensive. Thankfully, the one thing missing from Over the Hedge are pages
of pop culture references, the kind that date a film five years after its
release. It's the more timeless quality of this film that I appreciate and
applaud.
The bottom line is, Over the Hedge is note perfect on just about every
level. It's not concerned with heavy-handed messages about protecting the
forests or the animals that live there; it's not tackling the problem of
urban sprawl. The mission here is pure entertainment, and with much thanks
to a crazy squirrel, that mission is accomplished. I'll be the first in line
to buy a Hammy the Squirrel plushy as long as Steve Carell's voice is coming
out of it.
Capone
It's hardly a secret that many family-oriented films of late bite the big one, if for no other reason then they don't offer up enough entertainment value for the parents/adults who inevitably end up dragging the kiddies to go see these films. There are exceptions, including nearly every Pixar film, every feature from Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run), the Shrek films, and now Over the Hedge.
While this Dreamworks production doesn't skimp on the flashy visuals and fart jokes that preteens seem to adore (I kind of like them too), there's another layer here that I found so endearing and fun that I can't imagine people not enjoying the heck out of this little gem.
Bruce Willis voices RJ the raccoon, who is caught stealing food from a hibernating bear (a terrifyingly gravel-voiced Nick Nolte). He ends up loosing the food and is given an ultimatum by the bear: replace the food in a short amount of time or die. In his search for a quick food supply, RJ stumbles upon a group of woodland creatures that are only just waking up from hibernation and realizing that during their long winter sleep, suburbia has cropped up on the outskirts of their forest.
Suddenly their vast food supply, which they normally begin collecting as soon as they wake, has been threatened. Fortunately RJ knows a little something about what lies over the hedge that separates the forest from the homes on the other side and offers to assist the animals in collecting food (which he will ultimately swipe).
Willis has a commanding, swarthy presence as RJ, a natural leader and persuader of animals compared to the creatures de facto leader Verne the turtle (Garry Shandling), who through some freak of nature is not actually attached to his shell, thus making it removable. Also on hand are Wanda Sykes as the Stella the skunk (who complains quite a bit about the lack of willing dates), William Shatner as the overacting possum Ozzie, the surprisingly effective Avril Lavigne as his daughter Heather, and long-time comedy partners Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as some sort of hedgehog-type creatures.
But hands-down the reason to slap down your hard-earned cash to see this film is an inspired, riotous, insane vocal performance by Steve Carell as Hammy the squirrel. I laughed at every word that come out of this guy's mouth. If Dreamworks doesn't include every minute of video footage of Carell's recording his lines on the DVD for Over the Hedge, there is no God.
I'm sure if Hammy is supposed to be retarded, slow, or just in desperate need of medication, but he's a miracle of animation. Bless co-directors Tim Johnson (Antz) and Karey Kirkpatrick (co-writer of Chicken Run, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the upcoming Charlotte's Web remake) for selecting Carell (who was hired when he was just that guy from "The Daily Show") for this part. I should also mention that Thomas Haden Church voices Dwayne the Verminator, hired by a housewife (Allison Janney) to take care of the invading animals looking for food. I have a feeling Dwayne was supposed to be the real comic relief of this film, but Hammy steals all scenes from all comers.
As with most animated films, an army of writers contributed to the script, but one name caught my eye as being a part of the team: Len Blum. Blum has been around a long time in the comedy arena, as a screenwriter on Meatballs, Stripes, and more recently Howard Stern's Private Parts. I suspect that a big part of my reason for falling for this film as hard as I did has to do with his participation in the writing.
The CGI animation style of Over the Hedge is fairly realistic with being creepily photorealistic (as the recent The Wild is). There are loads of inventive action sequences, lots of well-earned laughs (I particularly liked Shatner poking fun as his own tendency to over-emote and gesture while acting), and nothing particularly offensive. Thankfully, the one thing missing from Over the Hedge are pages of pop culture references, the kind that date a film five years after its release. It's the more timeless quality of this film that I appreciate and applaud.
The bottom line is, Over the Hedge is note perfect on just about every level. It's not concerned with heavy-handed messages about protecting the forests or the animals that live there; it's not tackling the problem of urban sprawl. The mission here is pure entertainment, and with much thanks to a crazy squirrel, that mission is accomplished. I'll be the first in line to buy a Hammy the Squirrel plushy as long as Steve Carell's voice is coming out of it.
Capone
