Movie Review: Curious George

Curious George (2006) 

Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan 

Written by Ken Kaufman 

Starring Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, Billy West, David Cross, Eugene Levy 

Release Date February 10th, 2006

Published February 12th, 2006 

Curious George is a wonderfully imaginative children's classic. With his wide eyed wonder and his incurable imagination George inspired small children to investigate the world around them with a similar abandon. Now on the big screen for the first time, the curious little monkey and his friend in the bright yellow hat are as imaginative and inquisitive as ever.

The man in the bright yellow hat aka Ted (Will Ferrell) has some big trouble. He needs a new attraction at the museum where he works or his new boss (David Cross) is going to fire him. Sending him on a trip to Africa to find this new attraction, Ted returns with big ideas and a brand new little friend. George, as the little monkey comes to be known, is an imaginative little primate whose inquisitive nature leads both he and Ted to some unique adventures.

Curious George director Matthew O\'Callaghan is a former Disney animator whose love of water colors made for the lovely, warm tones of Mickey' s Twice Upon A Christmas. directs Curious George with the same warmth and joy. O\'Callaghan has respect for this character and while there are updates that are necessary but they are never overdone or precious.

The voice cast of Curious George is a wonderful mix. Will Ferrell strikes just the right flummoxed, earnest and patient tone as Ted and Drew Barrymore is in lovely voice as his love interest Maggie. Comedian David Cross is appropriately sniveling and conniving as the villain of the movie and Futurama star Billy West is almost unrecognizable as the benevolent boss who supports Ted but must also listen to Cross's Junior, his son.

Another draw of Curious George is the throwback hand drawn animation. Perfectly capturing the water color aesthetic of H.A Rey\'s legendary book series, Curious George is one of the loveliest looking animated features of this decade and the rare hand drawn feature that is as visually vibrant as any computer animated feature in the business, even the Pixar stuff.

Curious George was sadly overlooked when it was released in theaters in early 2006 but it\'s out there on DVD and the perfect gift for any child who loves a great cartoon. Wonderfully imaginative and artfully, crafted, Curious George should be an animated classic and a staple of all children's DVD collection. If you don\'t have it, run out and get it for your child, or the child in you.

Movie Review: The Missing

The Missing (2003) 

Directed by Ron Howard 

Written by Ken Kaufman

Starring Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd, Aaron Eckhardt 

Release Date November 26th, 2003

Published November 24th, 2003

I have never been a big fan of westerns and yet, this year, I have seen a pair of terrific films from that genre: Kevin Costner's elegant cattle rustling drama Open Range and an unknown indie western called Dust starring Josef Fiennes; a western that toys with the traditions of the genre in ways that bring it new life and vitality. Now comes Ron Howard's take on the western, The Missing. Like Open Range, it has some of the traditional archetypes and structure of classic western, but like the innovative Dust, it has a  lot of artistry and flair that the genre has always lacked.

Cate Blanchett stars in The Missing as Maggie, a healer in a backwoods New Mexico homestead. Maggie lives and works the land with her two daughters, oldest Lilly (Evan Rachel Wood) and youngest Dot (Jenna Boyd), as well as a field hand named Brake (Aaron Eckhart) with whom Maggie is close. Their lives are mundane and, you might even say, dull, until Maggie's estranged father Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones) comes to their home in need of medical attention.

Father and daughter haven't spoken in years, not since Samuel ran off to live with Apache Indians, leaving Maggie behind with her sick mother who died soon after he left. Maggie grew up hard and fast and was only recently coming to terms with herself when Samuel shows up. It's not surprising when she angrily sends her father on his way. 

Unfortunately, Samuel will re-enter his daughter’s life again soon after when Indians kidnap Lilly and head for the Mexican border to sell her into slavery. Only Samuel has the means to track the Indians and get the girl back. The military, represented by Val Kilmer in a quick cameo, are hot on the wrong trail and are headed the wrong direction despite Maggie's pleading.

The Indian kidnappers are lead by a mystical man called Chidin, who Samuel is convinced is a witch. Chidin does indeed seem to have some sort of powers, though his motives are clearly just motivated by greed. Chidin is played by Eric Schweig who made a wonderful impression in 2002's Skins. Here, he is hardly recognizable under aging makeup and war paint, and he is more frightening than most horror movie villains.

Director Ron Howard had said he never wanted to make a western, but something about the unconventional elements of The Missing appealed to him. Howard liked that this western had a strong woman as its lead character. He liked that there were no card games or noontime shootouts at ten paces. The mystical elements of The Missing offered the opportunity to break many of the traditional western cliches. For the most part, Howard makes it work.

The success of The Missing starts with the casting of Cate Blanchett, a terrifically believable actress. Blanchett is a chameleon on par with Meryl Streep, Blanchett can play any role. Here, she plays what are essentially two roles. When we first meet Maggie, she is a hard bitten woman who is both mother and father to her two daughters. Maggie chops wood and cooks dinner. However, after her daughter is kidnapped, she is forced to become vulnerable and, as father and daughter slowly reconcile, she softens Maggie's edges in a way that is believable. Maggie never melts into a typical victim role that the character might have become in the hands of a lesser actress.

What can you say about Tommy Lee Jones? The man is toughness personified. In The Missing, even as he wears the ugliest, least convincing pony tail in film history, Jones still exudes toughness and wisdom. There is something about those deep lines in Jones's face; those lines communicate strength, intelligence, surprising humor, a most effectively wisdom. Jones' wizened visage carries gravitas, it has weight as much as age, intensity and experience. 

Credit cinematographer Salvatore Tatino with helping The Missing break with many of the western genres' most conventional elements. Using different cameras, film stock, and lighting Tatino and Howard paint a wonderfully unique looking western setting. The only significant problem with The Missing, is its length, which stretches too far past the two hour mark. 

There are a number of times the film could have ended but didn't and the final half hour is desperately padded with unnecessary scenes. It's as if screenwriter Ken Kaufmann, adapting a book by Thomas Eidsen, couldn't decide on an ending and kept circling back to wrap up forgotten and unnecessary plot points that could have been left for the audience to wonder about. Instead those plot points are resolved with pretentious, overlong bits of dialogue that threaten to sink the film near the end.

Thankfully Ron Howard pulls out of this bad run of scenes before the film completely faltered and, for most of its run time, The Missing is an enthralling western thriller that shows there is plenty more you can do with a western setting than mere gunfights and saloon brawls.