Directed by Andrew Stanton. Alexander Gould, Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe. Pixar/Disney.
Decent Films Ratings
Overall
Recommendability |
?A |
Artistic/
Entertainment Value |
? |
Moral/Spiritual
Value (+4/-4) |
?
+2 |
Age
Appropriateness |
?Kids & Up* |
External Ratings
Content advisory: Animated high excitement and menace; parental separation theme. Could be frightening to sensitive youngsters.
From a National Catholic Register review
By Steven D. Greydanus
Pixar’s fifth computer-animated film is another gem, a deeply affecting, stunningly animated father-son fish story that that not only features the first onscreen Pixar dad, but actually focuses on the parent-child relationship rather than seeing the child in relation to some surrogate adult-figure such as Toy Story’s Woody and Buzz or Monsters, Inc.’s Mike and Sully.
Even more remarkably, papa clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks)
remains sympathetically and positively depicted even though young
Nemo is reasonably frustrated by Marlin’s overprotectiveness,
unlike, e.g., fellow undersea dad King Triton (The Little
Mermaid), who was basically a frustrating obstacle for Ariel
to overcome. Marlin’s overprotectiveness is actually quite
understandable: In an early Bambi-like tragedy, a predator
devours Nemo’s mother and hundreds of his unhatched siblings,
leaving even Nemo partly crippled. (Marlin and his mate’s
lovingly protective concern for the clearly visible, embryonic
fries in their translucent eggs is strikingly resonant for
pro-life viewers.)
When Nemo’s willfulness results in his being snatched far away
from his father, there seems no hope of their being reunited. As
events unfold, though, Nemo comes to see his father in a whole
new light, while Marlin learns to give Nemo room to grow and face
his own challenges. Dare I admit I cried throughout the second
half?
As they say in talk radio, I am a “long time reader, first time writer.” I truly enjoy your writing on this site and check it often; my only wish is that there were more of it. I also find myself in agreement with most everything you have to say. I have been a huge fan of Pixar over the years. To my mind, The Incredibles is perhaps one of the most perfect films made for any audience and on a par with Mary Poppins or It’s a Wonderful Life (or even Apocalypse Now if you want to go there). Their sheer output of good to excellent movies is staggering.
But there is a kind of “Circle of Life” rule in the movie business that any successful artistic enterprise eventually begins to believe its own hype, becomes more complacent or self-indulgent, and thus sows the seeds of its own demise. To my mind (and I was almost alone in my assessment), I saw sad confirmation of this in Finding Nemo, a film (admittedly gorgeous to look at — I mean we’re still talking about Pixar) where comedy and high concepts were sacrificed for Berkeley-esque platitudes about “special” needs and inclusiveness. Ironically to me, that film was almost universally hailed as the studio’s masterpiece (and, I believe, is still its most profitable film).
Their track record has been spotty but above average ever since (Brad Bird has been a real shot in the arm), but has reached a new low with WALL-E. As a mere consumer of films I enjoy and judge a film for what it is saying up on the screen. Again, WALL-E is a beautiful film (though the inclusion of live actors was jarring) with nothing to say. Perhaps there were too many hands involved: it seems they were trying to make an environmental film but economic concerns forced them to hedge their bets so much (or perhaps “code their message” so that only the faithful would be in on it) that they were left with nothing but a Chaplinesque love story. Again, this film has been praised to the skies (though perhaps more praised than watched) and I can only wonder where the studio is headed.
Redemption from the aforementioned rule and trend reversals are always possible (think of Disney’s The Little Mermaid or even the Coen brothers’ Fargo), but I have seen no one even acknowledge this problem at Pixar. For me, this site has always been “spot on” in its observations, so I’m writing to ask if you find any substance to what I have observed.
Thanks for writing, and for your thoughtful comments.
Your WALL-E skepticism, though very different from my take, is entirely reasonable, and you aren’t at all alone in feeling that way about the film.
I’ve seen WALL-E twice, and I’m over the moon about it. For me, it works transcendently as pure poetry, as mood and atmosphere and imagery. A “Chaplinesque love story,” yes — with a blend of strangeness, slapstick, wonder, awe, terror, obsession and silliness that is utterly unique and haunting. I see it as daring art on a high level, and a rare moviegoing experience that I can only be grateful for — though, again, I can understand others feeling differently.
I have to admit, though, that I’m gobsmacked by your take on Finding Nemo, in connection with which my only regret is that my current “DVD Picks” review is so embarrassingly short and shallow — something I’ll have to rectify.
“Berkeley-esque platitudes about ‘special’ needs and inclusiveness”? How about devastating insights into parental anxieties? How about one of the most touching and wrenching father-son relationships in animation history, if not all of cinema?
What is more affecting than Marlin’s slow and painful journey of learning to let Nemo go, of allowing him to succeed or fail on his own? What is more poignant than those two wide-eyed moments of realization — Marlin on the whale’s tongue, Nemo listening to the pelican — the beleagured dad grasping the extent of his protectiveness, the disillusioned son beginning to see his father in a new light? (“You think you can do these things, but you can’t, Nemo!” “My dad took on a shark?!”) It’s making me cry right now just thinking about it. I dunno, maybe it’s a father thing.
“Comedy sacrificed”? What cartoon sidekick in recent memory is more hilarious than Dori? Okay, maybe Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove, but after that. I’m not sure I can think of anyone. Finding Nemo is a comic gem.
Are Pixar’s recent films perfect? The Incredibles comes close to perfection, yes, though it’s a work in a well-trodden genre, or rather a number of well-trodden genres. Its subversiveness and daring lies in its thematic territory — the cult of entitlement, marital friction, and, as in Finding Nemo, masculinity in crisis — rather than its subject matter.
Ratatouille and especially WALL-E, on the other hand, represent entirely new kinds of family/animated films. No Hollywood film this year seems to me a more hopeful harbinger than WALL-E. If films like this are possible and viable, all kinds of doors are open. I enjoy the likes of Kung Fu Panda and Horton Hears a Who as much as anyone. But nothing is more exciting to me as a father and a film critic than to be able to bring my kids to a film like WALL-E. I want to live in a world in which artists strive to create family films as unique and peculiar as this one.
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