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Finding Nemo
G
Opening tomorrow at area theaters
Three-and-a-half reels out of four
Disney/Pixar could easily cruise if it wanted to. After all, with the dearth of good family films these days, people will still see the company’s movies no matter what. It is to Disney/Pixar’s credit that with each animated feature, the bar is raised just a little higher. Finding Nemo is no exception.
Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) is a clown fish living on a reef with his wife and several hundred hatchlings. When she and all but one of the hatchlings are eaten, he is left to raise Nemo (Alexander Gould) all by himself. Father and son get along just fine until Nemo wanders into the open sea and gets snatched up by a diver. Marlin overcomes his fears to search for his son, encountering adventure upon adventure. He even finds a new friend in Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a fish with no short-term memory.
Every Pixar film has one technical feature that distinguishes it from the others. In Toy Story, it was the realism with which the toys were created. In Monsters, Inc., it was the way the computer animation was used to create a whole other world. In Finding Nemo, what stands out are the seascapes, so realistic and beautiful, you think you’re watching a National Geographic documentary.
Of course, the usual Pixar humor is present as well. I read in a recent article on time.com that every Pixar movie contains a G-rated joke about a certain bodily function. I haven’t been taking notice, but I’ll take the writer’s word for it. There is one such joke in Nemo, but fortunately the laughs go beyond bathroom humor. One of the funnier bits involves an interesting group called Sharks Anonymous. I won’t give it away, but it is very amusing. As in all Pixar films, there are the usual in-jokes intended for mom and dad. Another hilarious bit involves a surfer dude sea turtle.
But also like all recent Pixar features, the movie has a more serious side. Here, the emphasis is on the bond between parent and child. It’s been said many times that people don’t really know what they’re capable of until they’re tested. Marlin finds out that he has the heart of a lion when it comes to protecting his son.
The vocal work is excellent here. High praise should go to Brooks as Marlin. His exquisite comic delivery fleshes out his character in a way seldom seen in animation. Marlin is every father who becomes terribly worried, even for a second.
The rest of the cast is excellent as well. Barry Humphries does a short but amusing turn as Bruce, a shark that’s trying to kick his fish addiction. Humphries is better known to American audiences as Dame Edna Everage. DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe and Allison Janney also do fine work.
Once again, Pixar and Disney have come up with a winner for the whole family. I know that’s a cliché, but in this case it’s a cliché that works.
Die Another Day
PG-13
Available Tuesday
In this, his fourth outing as the debonair assassin, Pierce Brosnan is joined by Halle Berry as Jinx, a CIA agent who crosses James Bond’s path more than once. This time out, Bond is jailed in North Korea after he is betrayed by a mole deep inside the British secret service. After he is told to take a vacation by M (Judi Dench), Bond does some investigating of his own. All clues seem to point to one man, a super-rich diamond tycoon. Die Another Day is often totally over the top, which means it’s the perfect Bond movie. Brosnan proves once again that he was born to play this role.
