Finding Nemo (2003)

I CAN’T BELIEVE I let Father’s Day pass without reviewing a movie that focused on dads, or the relationship between a dad and child.

To amend for that oversight – and to cleanse Dash and my palates of the last two lackluster kids’ films we watched (here and here) – I popped in Finding Nemo.

Plot:
Overprotective, recently widowed clown fish Marlin (Albert Brooks) takes his son Nemo (Alexander Gould) to his first day of school. But when Nemo rebels after yet another of Marlin’s lectures about playing it safe, he’s snatched up by a diver, who takes him away. With the help of a friendly, forgetful blue tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), Marlin begins the seemingly impossible quest of finding his son and bringing him home.

Critique:
• Like Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo is a movie that you view much differently after becoming a parent. The film starts by playing on one of our worst fears – having one of our children be lost or abducted – then takes us on Marlin’s journey, against seemingly overwhelming odds, to bring his boy home.
• Directors Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) and Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) – with a script from Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds – pack enough adventure into Nemo’s 100 minutes to fill three films. There are so many layers and sequences, with a massive amount of characters – each one fully fleshed out thanks to a cast whose voices perfectly fit their respective roles.
• The underwater world of Nemo is amazing, full of rich colors and lifelike underwater movement – not just the fish themselves, but their surroundings as well.
• In addition to the main story and characters, there's an abundance of smaller treasures in Nemo that help make it such a joyful experience: The shark support group. The “tank gang.” The “Mine! Mine! Mine!” seagulls. The father-and-son, surfer-dude sea turtles (dad Crush is voiced by Stanton). The pitch-perfect score by Thomas Newman. The “heyyy, heyyy, heyyy” crabs. The school of fish impressionists (voiced by Pixar lucky charm John Ratzenberger).
• And while I’m not the biggest Ellen DeGeneres fan, she is priceless as Dory – providing comic relief while dishing out the occasional pearl of wisdom.

As fathers, we each want to be a hero in our kids’ eyes; a brave, loving, and trusting protector who knows when to hold our children tight, when to loosen our grip…and when to let go (something Marlin learns on his quest to find Nemo).

For me, Finding Nemo captures that dad-as-hero ideal in the simple look of awe and admiration on Nemo’s face when the pelican Nigel (Geoffrey Rush) tells him about Marlin’s adventures. That’s the face we all want our kids to have when they look at, or even think about, their father.

By the way…if you’re a father with young kids, and you don’t get misty at least once while watching Finding Nemo, call your doctor. Something’s wrong with you.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

What did Dash think?

Dash talks a lot when we watch Finding Nemo – not out of boredom, but excitement and laughter. He always wants to share the amazing and funny moments in the film, sometimes just to make sure that I “get it.”

Will your kids want to watch it?

• The more appropriate question is, “How soon will you want your kids to watch it?” If you have young children, Finding Nemo is an absolute must-see.
• That being said, there are a few intense scenes and scary fish, and Nemo’s mommy dies in the opening segment (albeit off-screen). Use your judgment showing Nemo to the pre-K crowd.

Will your FilmMother like it?

She won’t like it; she’ll love it. Finding Nemo is a great, virtually flawless film. And even if she has seen it, it’s worth another viewing…or five.

Mine?

Finding Nemo
• Directors: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
• Screenwriters: Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds
• Stars: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Geoffrey Rush
• MPAA Rating: G


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The Incredibles (2004)

October is just around the corner, as is Halloween…which made me think back to last year, when my wife and I dressed up our sons as Dash and Jack-Jack, two characters from Pixar’s The Incredibles. And the more I thought about the movie that inspired their costumes, the more I realized how amazing The Incredibles truly is (notice how I deliberately did not describe The Incredibles as “incredible”).

I don’t often gush about a movie, but The Incredibles is such a perfect film that I don’t know where to start praising it – so I’ll start with the plot (cribbed from Amazon.com):

Bob Parr (aka Mr. Incredible) and his wife Helen (Elastigirl) used to be among the world's greatest crime fighters, battling evil on a daily basis. Fifteen years later, they’ve been forced to adopt civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs where they live "normal" lives with their kids Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack. Itching to get back into action, Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top-secret assignment. But he soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction.

The Incredibles succeeds in so many areas, but I’ll try to keep to the ones that impressed me most:
• A script by director Brad Bird that hits all the right notes for making a great film, live or animated: character development, believable dialogue, and sympathetic, relatable protagonists to name a few.
• Extended, heart-pounding action sequences, any of which could be the climax of a lesser action film.
• A love-to-hate villain in Syndrome (Jason Lee), whose origin I won’t disclose in case you haven’t seen the film yet.
• A great dissection of the family dynamic: Bird’s script effectively humanizes the superhumans in the Parr family, including Mr. Incredibles’ mid-life crisis, Elastigirl’s yearning for a functional family, and the sibling rivalry between Dash and Violet.

The Incredibles is a film whose brilliance is a growing revelation for the movie fan. After one viewing, you see that it’s great. But it’s only with repeated viewings that you realize how great. You recognize and appreciate something new about it each time you watch it.

Additional viewing from Brad Bird: By all means, watch his criminally overlooked 1999 film The Iron Giant. You can then follow it with his 2007 Oscar winner Ratatouille, featuring one of my favorite comedians ever, Patton Oswalt, as the voice of Remy the rat.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5).

Will your kids want to watch it?

I would sure hope so. In fact, I would make it required viewing for all your children above a certain age. I say that because The Incredibles is rated PG for a few reasons: superhero fights, intense action sequences, some ominous-looking evil robots, and a couple of on-screen deaths via explosion (which may or may not sink in for the younger crowd).

Will your FilmMother like it?

Again, I would sure hope so. Even if she’s of the “I don’t like cartoons” mindset, sit her down and make her watch this film. I bet by the halfway point, you won’t even need to restrain her.

The Incredibles
* Director: Brad Bird
* Screenwriter: Brad Bird
* Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Spencer Fox, Sarah Vowell, Elizabeth Peña
* MPAA Rating: PG (action violence)


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