Have you ever looked at a squirrel without thinking, “Relax, pal. Put on an Enya CD and draw yourself a hot bath.”
But what does the world look like to that squirrel? More particularly, a squirrel jacked up on Red Bull?
“Over the Hedge” has the answer, in a brilliant set piece that pays off an hour’s worth of squirrel jokes and fortifies our suspicions that this is not just another forgettable talking-animal cartoon.
To a squirrel with a triple- dose of the ADD gene, the surrounding world is standing still. Before an attacker can jump from the top of the hedge to the flower bed below, Hammy the Squirrel has time to set off a burglar alarm, find a stray cookie on a rooftop and end global hunger. This stop-motion tour de force, a send-up of “The Matrix,” “Superman” and a few other classics, is a cinematic treat for kids and parents alike.
And it’s not the only touch that makes “Over the Hedge” an intelligent and entertaining antidote to recent cute-crammed ‘toons like “The Wild,” “Chicken Little” and “Brother Bear.”
The DreamWorks animation is based on a Pogoesque newspaper cartoon created by Michael Fry and T Lewis. Rather than dumbing down the strip’s wry commentary on American consumer life, DreamWorks honed the message into a surprisingly biting observation of suburbia’s lure and loathsomeness.
“We eat to live,” says RJ the raccoon (voiced by Bruce Willis), gesturing over The Hedge toward a typical kitchen where the refrigerator looms like one of the heads on Easter Island. “They live to eat. For humans, enough is never enough.”
Lest you think “Hedge” is one long granola-fueled screed against materialism, you should know the animators are firmly rooted in the modern world. Even as they shoot a massive SUV from ominous angles, they illustrate middle-American good life with affection and awe. Lawns are green magic carpets. Homes are sturdy and inviting. Propane tanks are tools for rocket-fueled adventure, barbecue or otherwise.
The message is fit for our times: Now that we’ve largely conquered the primal goal of finding adequate food, what’s the next noble quest for humanity?
None of which precludes a good flatulence joke. Great comic timing separates “Hedge” from the spate of unfunny animal romps. Intelligent jokes are set up and paid off, rather than blurred by an endless string of instantly-outdated pop culture references. The cracks against people dig deep because they ring partially true. Back to those SUVs:
“Humans need them because they’re slowly losing their ability to walk.”
“How many fit in there?”
“One.”
Plot? Quickly, for if you see it, you’ll get it. RJ steals the winter-long junk food stash of bear Vincent (Nick Nolte) and must replace it. Meanwhile, woodland creatures led by Verne the turtle (Gary Shandling) find their own food-foraging hemmed in by a new suburban development, just over that big Hedge. Savvy raccoon recruits naive creatures for packaged food thefts; madcap hijinks ensue.
In its best spots, “Hedge” boasts the inventiveness of “Toy Story” or “Chicken Run.” Why not make a villain out of a dictatorial homeowner’s association director, who gets on her cellphone to complain the moment the neighbor’s grass grows an inch too high. And why not pay homage to earlier animators by reviving the skunk-woos-cat theatrics of Pepe Le Pew – but make the skunk a girl (sassy Wanda Sykes)?
Every exchange of dialogue reinforces the ambiguity about purchasing happiness.
Stop worrying about the hedge, RJ speechifies to the gathered animals. “It’s the gateway to the good life. They have food coming out the wazoo.”
“Whatever kind of food comes out of a wazoo,” Verne responds, “I don’t really want any part of it.”
Reach Michael Booth at mbooth@denverpost.com or 303-820-1686; try the “Screen Team” blog at denverpostbloghouse.com
“Over the Hedge” | *** 1/2 RATING
PG for some crude humor|1 hour, 17 minutes| ANIMATED|Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick; written by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton and Karey Kirpatrick; featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Steve Carell, Nick Nolte and Wanda Sykes|Opens today at area theaters.
