This entry was posted on Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 at 5:51 am and is filed under B, Comedy, Family, NEW ON VIDEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith
Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Oprah Winfrey,
I think Seinfeld is the best TV series of all time. Its not even close. It is just the best. So it is safe to say that I am quite interested in anything Jerry comes up with now. What he has come up with here is an uneven punfest, loaded with chuckles and big name and Seinfeld cast cameos. The story is all over the place and parts of the film feel like a kids movie, with enough in-jokes that the grown-ups don’t get bored, while other sections of the movie feel like an episode of Family Guy or The Simpsons. Four people, led by Seinfeld, did the writing here, so that probably explains the pun proliferation and story deterioration. Still, let’s not over think this thing like some art house critic, there are some good chuckles and the kids in the theatre seemed to enjoy it.
Jerry Seinfeld is the real power here and his character, Barry B. Benson is a young bee who just isn’t sure that he is ready to spend the rest of his life in the honey production industry, at least not before a little adventure. He joins a dangerous excursion outside the hive and soon finds himself in trouble and has to be saved by a friendly florist, Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellweger). Being a polite bee, Barry feels that he has to thank her, despite bee rule #1 – never talk to humans. The two become friends, with some kind of creepy romantic overtones and then decide to go to court to battle for the bees’ right to keep their own honey production. There is a little biology lesson and a fair dark plot turn following this, but I’ve said enough.
I may be flirting with the downfall of society as we know it, but I think Bee Movie is safe entertainment for all ages despite its PG rating. PG? Is the ratings board mad with power or what? Anyway, I digress, but for those of you with an interest the aforementioned topic, check out my review on This Film is Not Yet Rated. Ok, ok the commercial break is over, back to the review. The adult/kids tone is inconsistent, and the story moves forward like spilled milk (its all over the place – keep up with my similes will ya?). Art it ain’t, and there are better kids’ movies, but not this week, so Seinfeld fans can scoop up their little noise machines and be pleasantly distracted for a couple of hours.
