twenty-something

My favorite monkey, to be exact. Curious George.

Caught a showing last night with my housemate. While largely imperfect, the new animated film version of literature's most mischievous primate (and my favorite) was a lot of fun. I found myself smiling -- widely -- for much of the movie, quite amused by the titular character and his shenanigans. George is completely adorable and irresistible in this version, pitch perfect. I could watch the opening sequence -- which features Jack Johnson's "Upside Down" -- and then closing credits -- an extremely well-done collection of Classic George images -- over and over again. The stuff in the middle? Eh.

It's a kids movie, and that's a good thing. There isn't a lot of "over the kids' heads" humor, a la Shrek, and thus the film doesn't feel as forced as other, more recent animated fare. It's not a Pixar classic by any means, but George never feels like it's try too hard like most of the sludge that Dreamworks et al. are spewing out. It reminded me a lot of the movies I watched growing up -- and the stuff I saw my brother and sister watching when they were growing up ten years later -- a sort of classic cartoon innocence in the plots and characters. There appears to be no moral to the story, though -- and if there is, it's to be curious and adventurous, to gain experience. That's a great message for children (and adults), but there's a lot the movie doesn't say about responsibility and consequences. But I digress...

Was I bored at times? Yeah. Was the plot silly and predictable? Yeah. But it's a kid's movie. There's no Mike Myers doing that horrible Scottish thing, making thinly veiled sexual jokes, and that's a check in my book.

Speaking of overrated comedians I once loved -- I'm over Will Farrell. Totally. He's not horrible here as the Man in the Yellow Hat (now known as Ted), as his "Farrell-ness" is mostly kept in check, but there are times you just want him to shut up. Many times. Ditto for Eugene Levy. Both his character and his voice work are too much, even for a kid's film. Damn it, man, get your career back on track! Drew Barrymore is cute, even if she negates the Man in the Yellow Hat's iconic bachelor status. And Jack Johnson's music -- even though they only use three or four songs from the album -- is spot on.

Overall, George -- both the monkey and the movie -- is charming. To smile throughout? I think that's the highlight of my week.