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Movie Review .....
Over the Hedge

  • In theaters May 19th 2006
  • Rated PG for some rude humor and mild comic action
  • RunTime: 96 Min
  • Matt's rating - 4.75 out of 5
  • Cindy's rating - 4.5 out of 5
COMPLETE REVIEW BELOW

Trailer

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Finally! A decent animated film that is perfect for the entire family. It seems like a very long dry spell where animated movies where either totally kid friendly but offering nothing for adults, (Curious George) or they where just terrible movies all around. (Chicken Little). Thanks be to Tim Johnson (director) and the gang at DreamWorks for delivering us a hilarious film for the summer in Over the Hedge. I know many adults have written off all animated films as boring kids stuff. I was just as guilty. But OTH has made redemption for its predecessors.

  The story is about a Raccoon named RJ (Bruce Willis) who is in deep trouble with a bear (Nick Nolte) after destroying his entire food stash. When the bear gives RJ two weeks to replace it the risky raccoon enlists a group of naïve forest dwellers to get the task done. Lucky for them they live right over the hedge from sprawling suburbia where food is plenty. The toughest part for RJ is convincing the play it safe turtle with a tingling tail (Garry Shandling), to embrace this new way of food gathering. Based on characters created by Michael Fry and T Lewis in the popular comic strip of the same name, OTH takes a nice poke at suburban life and humans as a whole. As the movie points out, "animals eat to live and humans live to eat". From SUV's to the girl scouts, all is fair game in the humor department.

  Everything about this film works. The humorous look at humans and their love for food and comfort. The issue of sprawling suburbia on wildlife and how both sides look at the other. And most importantly for the movie, the characters are brilliantly scripted and voiced. They come to life mainly due to the recognizable voices attached to them. This helps adults get as much or more from this film as any kid will. Steve Carell (Squirrel), Wanda Sykes (skunk), William Shatner (Possum), the duo of Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy (Porcupines) are voices that bring so much depth and humor to their animal counterpart.

  The writing is fun, energetic and witty. They didn't dumb it down for a kid's movie and it was a brilliant decision. There are lines in here that you find yourself quoting days later. I am laughing right now as I write this thinking about some of the antics of Hammy the squirrel. This movie clicks in all the right places and connects to the laugh part of the brain. Plus there is a fantastic message about family and community. How honesty, forgiveness, and working together are all part of what makes a family work.

  Over the Hedge is rated PG for some rude humor and mild comic action. There are a couple of scenes where the bear might be a little scary for tiny tots but no scarier than Nick Nolte is in real life. Beyond that this movie is safe for the entire family. I give it 4.75 blue coolers out of 5. I have not laughed this unashamedly in a long time. With a peak Over the Hedge, I'm Matt Mungle.