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| Director
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Matthew O'Callaghan
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| Starring
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Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore,
Eugene Levy |
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| The plot of
Curious George |
While in Africa, a man (Ferrell) who wears a curious
yellow hat accidentally adopts a mischievous chimpanzee
named George. With a new life in America, George's
adventurous nature takes control, and he heads
out into is new world. |
Curious
George Review
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Review by Brian
Lowry:
It's not just the animation
that's two-dimensional in "Curious George."
Rudimentary on every level, this long-gestating Universal
pic based on the children's character is pitched toward
the youngest of kids -- roughly ages zygote to 4 --
with direct-to-video quality animation, plotting and
backgrounds. Nothing wrong with that per se, except
there's zero here to divert adults, making its 86 minutes
feel dangerously close to a hostage situation. The appetite
for even mediocre G-rated fare suggests there's a market
for this (see "Chicken Little"), but "George"
is much better suited to home viewing, allowing parents
to seek refuge elsewhere.Faced with a film replete with
original songs by Jack Johnson featuring "Sesame
Street"-style lyrics, even patient parents will
likely be bored to death. (At the premiere screening,
the host of a TV entertainment magazine show actually
took a cellphone call during the movie, and he probably
wasn't alone.)For those unfamiliar with the 1940s character
created by Margret and H.A. Rey, the troublemaking monkey
has received a few modern updates. For instance, there's
now an actual name for the little simian's human pal
(Ted) known strictly as "the man with the yellow
hat" in the books.The modestly constructed story
has Ted (voiced by Will FerrellWill Ferrell) embarking
on a jungle expedition to bring back a massive idol
that will save the natural history museum where he's
employed. Barring such a coup for his employer, Bloomsberry
(Dick Van Dyke), the site will be closed and transformed
into a parking lot by Bloomsberry's needy son Junior
(David CrossDavid Cross, whose animated likeness is
his spitting image).So Ted heads to Africa, where he
encounters a playful monkey who he eventually names
George. As voiced by Frank Welker, the vocalizations
are somewhere between a cooing baby and a poor chimp
impersonation..more..
Review By Rob Vaux:
The challenge of bringing Curious George to the screen
has defied the best writers in the industry. It has
taken 14 years and God knows how many concept changes
to arrive at the final product, and the crass marketing
campaign surrounding it suggests that the beloved monkey
of the title has been co-opted as a corporate shill.
What a surprise, then, that the movie turns out to be
a modest delight. Not only does it understand what makes
the books such classics, but it successfully reinterprets
them for the big screen without losing the soul of its
source material.Nowhere is this more evident than in
the monkey himself -- a child-like being of warmth and
happiness whose namesake trait celebrates both the joys
of discovery and the mayhem to which it can lead. The
books (by H.R. Rey and his wife Margret) followed George
as he accompanied the Man in the Yellow Hat from the
jungle to the big city, where all sorts of rollicking
misadventures awaited. Rey's illustrations perfectly
captured the character's innocence and charm, but in
the wrong hands, that adorable little simian could easily
become an irritating pest. Director Matthew O'Callaghan
is far from the wrong hands, however, and the film's
version of George -- while shifting slightly from the
books -- is as effortlessly appealing as anyone could
hope for. He radiates nothing but guileless lovability,
his troublemaking curiosity fostered by only the best
intentions. Before the opening credits are finished,
he has walked off with the audience's heart in his pocket.It
doesn't hurt that the powers that be wisely decided
to eschew CGI animation and render Curious George in
classic 2-D style. It's a laudable choice, for not only
does it stand out from the current glut of computer
images, but the bright palate (dominated by gorgeous
primary colors) does a wonderful job of evoking the
magic of Rey's deceptively spartan drawings. The sight
of George soaring over the cityscape with a bunch of
helium-filled balloons, or redecorating the local dowager's
unpainted living room in a jungle motif smoothly marries
the heart of Rey's work with the awesome visual potential
of filmmaking.Some of the movie's changes are less gentle,
however..More..
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