When we start seeing animated feature films, we know that the summer movie season is ready to explode. There's still about another month to go, but DreamWorks Animation's "The Boss Baby" is certainly a summer fare flick that is ripe for one to get their movie-going juices ready.. After seeing the trailer on this film, I felt it was going to be a smartly produced film that will suit the young and old at heart, and it lived up to that premise.
A suit-wearing briefcase-carrying baby (Alec Baldwin) pairs up with his seven-year old brother, Tim (Miles Bakshi) to stop the dastardly plot of the CEO, Francis Francis (Steve Buscemi) of Puppy Co.
This story about how a new baby's arrival impacts a family, Dad (Jimmy Kimmel) and Mom (Lisa Kudrow), told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, involves a wildly imaginative boy named Tim. Tim has his life turned upside down by his new baby brother who has the brusque manner of a businessman. However, the two are forced to get past their initial antagonism when they must work together on a mission involving the rivalry between babies and puppies.
Others to round out the cast are Tobey Maguire as Adult Tim/Narrator, James McGrath as Wizzie/Elvis impersonator, Conrad Vernon as Eugene, ViviAnn Yee as Staci, Eric Bell Jr. as Triplets, David Soren as Jimbo, Edie Mirman as Big Boss Baby and James Ryan as Story Bear.
This was freshly and humorously directed by Tom McGrath ("Madagascar" '05, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" '08, "Megamind" '10, "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" '12) plus TV. Obviously, this filmmaker is no stranger to animated films, hence his resume, so his ease in how to handle this kind of film shows in his work every time he sits in the director's chair. His characters simply come to life no matter what the subject matter and characters involved. It was creatively written by Michael McCullers ("Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" '99, "Undercover Brother" '02, "Austin Powers in Goldmember" '02, "Thunderbirds" '04, "Enough About Me" (TV movie) '05, "Baby Mama" '08, "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" (add'l. screen. mat'l) '14) plus TV. Unlike McGrath, this writer has written not only for animated films, but for live-action as well. Although the live-action films are live, they certainly have had a cartoonish quality about them. The premise of this story was fun-filled, inventive and captured your attention. And even though their were a couple of very small slow areas in plot, and a couple of places where the continuity could've been a bit better, this film surely was hilarious. The sad commentary here is that in order to see a good comedy these days, I typically have to resort to watching animated films. Maybe Hollywood should be hiring the writers on animated films to write more of the traditional comedies. Just food for thought. As I suspected, Baldwin as the Boss Baby was brilliant casting. He was born to play this role. A smart-alecky baby played by a wise-cracking actor. These type of roles has been the trademark of Baldwin's career.
If you like animated films, you'll revel, however, whether it be animated or not, the premise of this film along with the execution of Baldwin's performance is why you'll be watching this. And it's all presented with a great family message to boot!
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG 98mins.
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