09/26/06 Open Season

Open Season (2006), directed by Roger Allers & Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi

watched solo; theater (North Hills 14 Cinema, Raleigh, NC); free screening

It's been quite awhile since I've had the luxury of picking up free passes to any new movie in the local area...so even though it was a silly cartoon (excuse me, animated feature film...they have Oscars for that now don't they?), I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, with the free screenings it's almost always a must to get there early enough (since they pass out much more tickets than they have seats) to get in. That being said, the screening for this one was at 7:00 p.m., giving me no time to be able to come home after work or shower (and barely get a meal in beforehand...and couldn't pick up Leslie since she was busy with grad school homework). So, I rush over to this fancy mall in North Raleigh to catch the film, and when I get there...tons of empty seats and most of the others filled with families and annoying kids. Yeah, should have known. Coming straight from the construction site, just to catch a film where some of the main characters are talking animals named Boog and McSquizzy. How seriously can you take that? Not very I might add...plus, the lead vocals provided by some Hollywood talent (they're usually over-animated actors anyway...ha ha) like Ashton Kutcher (Elliot) and Martin Lawrence (Boog). You throw in some ensemble talent...wait can you truly claim an animated film to be an ensemble cast...seeing that the actors probably never were in the recording studio at the same time, or perhaps never even met before...so where is the chemistry? Anyway, the ensemble (for lack of a better word) includes the voice-over talents of Jon Favreau, Gary Sinise, Debra Messing, Billy Connolly, and the ever distinct tones of Patrick Warburton (TV's "The Tick" and Puddy from "Seinfeld"). Some famous voices, and some constant comical gags for the children...throw in the occasional fart joke, balanced out with a zinger that only the parents will catch...and you have a hit. It's actually not that bad of a film, kept you laughing just enough. It's about Boog the grizzly bear, who was rescued & domesticated (yes, I said the bear was domesticated...he lives in a garage) by park ranger Beth. Used to his cozy surroundings and afraid of the outdoors...he unintentionally teams up & gets lost with a deer named Elliot, whom he rescues from evil hunter Shaw, to find their own way through the wilderness back home. The two buddies have to help their woodland creature brethren turn the tables on the local hunters during open hunting season. Kind of dumb, but I liked it. Plus, the atmosphere sold me after walking out of the fancy ol' north Raleigh cineplex, out to a fine fall night where a jazz band was playing in the open grassy courtyard. There I was, a weary construction worker having just watched a cartoon for the past hour & a half, being serenaded by some jazz in the cool night air. Unusually poetic.

3 out of 5 stars