Finding Nemo

December 10, 2004

Rated: G Runtime: 101 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Picture this: It’s a Saturday afternoon in July, the hottest, nastiest time of the year for me, and I’m kicked back in my recliner finishing up my 3rd cold one of the afternoon and watching my favorite team close out a win in the bottom of the 9th when “she-who-must-be-obeyed” waltzes in and shatters this one perfect moment of fleeting nirvana.

Finding Nemo

“Get yer ass up and put some decent clothes on. You’re taking the kids and I out to see ‘Finding Nemo’ tonight!”

That last gulp of Coors Light (shush!) hit bottom with a thud and my mood starting sinking faster than than Rosie O’Donnell’s chances of landing that Bowflex spokesman contract.

My eyes glazed over as I remembered the last few times I’d been forced into something like this. Would it be another “Hey, Arnold!” debacle? Or would it be something TRULY vile like “Pokemon vs. Rugrats”?

Surely, I thought to myself, I could come up with a reasonable excuse to keep from having to engage in this masochistic exercise. After all, I *am* the MAN of the house, dammit! But as I began to offer some flimsy excuse which I don’t even remember what it was now, I looked up and saw her once-pretty face.

The look there was one I’d only seen a couple of other times. You’ve probably seen that look yourself. You know the one where she looks like she should have one of the security guys from the Jerry Springer show behind and holding her arms to prevent her from charging into you.

“Gimme 15 minutes and I’ll be ready to go,” was all I could meekly utter.

—

Having just gotten back home, however, I can say it actually wasn’t that bad. The animation itself was exceptionally well done. My only problem with it was the subject matter: lots and lots of colorful fishies and plants and such; not exactly stimulating material. The action and movements of the fish and the natural surroundings was amazing to watch. I noticed that she-who-must-be-obeyed was ‘oo’ing and ‘ah’ing a lot as were the kids.

The plot was pretty standard fare for a kiddie movie with no big surprises. In short, the story revolves around a deep-sea fish that goes looking for his son who has been abducted and is now stuck inside an aquarium in a dentist’s office. That’s pretty much it.

The actors doing the voices do a nice job and, unlike so many other kiddie movies of late, there were a few items in the dialogue that were intended for older audience members which I can certainly appreciate. Make no mistake, however: this is *not* another ‘Shrek’. ‘Finding Nemo’ is a kiddie movie at heart and anything adults find to appreciate was probably thrown in as an afterthought.

As laughs go, the father (Brooks) is the straight man in the movie, as he should be, and most of the humor comes from the characters that he meets along the way including a very forgetful fish (DeGeneres), a trio of sharks and some gnarly turtles.

The adventures the characters find themselves in are predictably madcap and whimsical, but they are executed well enough not to be completely yawn inducing.

The best part of the movie, however, was that the kids (and she-who-must-be-obeyed) absolutely loved it and, for at least a brief shining moment, I was the best guy in the whole world. They loved it so much, in fact, that I was allowed a second day to recline and sip on a few cold ones as I watched the boys of summer run the base paths.

Play ball!

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 3 Stars, Alexander Gould, Comedy, Ellen DeGeneres, G, Theatrical, Voices of Albert Brooks, Willem Defoe