Over The Hedge (2 Disc - Special Edition) [2006]

Review Summary: Great fun!

Review:

Superb comedy for the kids & adults will laugh too! I've seen this twice now with my nephews and they enjoyed it a lot & so did I! One of those great kids' films that works well for adults too. Good stuff.

Review Summary: A very nice family movie, with some totally irresistible adults oriented gags

Review:

This is one of the best and smartest family movies I saw in those last years - and having a 7y old daughter I saw a lot of them, believe me. This is the story of a raccoon named RJay who succumbed to the temptation and tried to rob a very nasty and very big bear, named Vincent (Nick Nolte gives his voice to the bear - and he sound like a real, real bad guy!). And now he has four days to get all the food he stole (and lost) back, otherwise he is bear snack. Only one solution to do that - get some help and stole all this food from humans. And he gets some help, from a bunch of animals, whose forest was mostly destroyed. Those animals are:
- Verne, a very conservative turtle ("It is me. Tentative. There are even places in my shell where I have never been yet")
- Hammy, a hyperactive squirrel, a little simple but incredibly cuddly ("Hi, I am Hammy, do you want to see my nuts?").
- Stella, a cynical, tough girl skunk ("I can clear a room. That much I can do")
- Ozzie, a possum, lone parent rising a teen aged daughter, not really very bright or courageous, but a great actor, whose voice is provided by William Shattner ("Playing possum, is what we do. We die. To live")
- Heather, his teen aged rebellious daughter. Somebody had the great idea to hire Avril Lavigne to be her voice - and it really works!
- Lou and Penny, porcupines, a very loving couple rising three kids.
But there is one problem: with all the food being stolen, some humans finally call Dwayne the Verminator (a verminator is like an exterminator, just meaner...) who uses equipment banished by law everywhere except Texas....
"Over the Hedge" is a very, very funny film, with a great number of gags for the kids and some one-liners, that the adults will appreciate more that the children. And then there is one moment which is simply Oscar material - a plastic chirurgical intervention to transform Stella in a gorgeous cat girl who must seduce Tiger, an enormous, nasty, almost genocidal tomcat, who happens to watch the access trap to one of the houses. Those two scenes are possibly the most irresistible moments in family movies since Shrek's courtship to Fiona!!
And I almost died laughing during RJay's presentation about relation of humans and their food - one important detail here: RJay's voice is provided by Bruce Willis and it magnifies the comic effect....

I simply love this movie. And one year ofter watching it my kid is still sleeping with the toy of Stella the Skunk, her favorite character....

Review Summary: brilliant!! Fantastic Film

Review:

great family film. Brilliant

Great for all ages and very funny

One to watch

Review Summary: hammy roks

Review:

this is a great family film full of entertainment and exitement. ideal for kids of all ages.

Review Summary: Really awful film

Review:

My wife and I rented this film and thought it was awful. The characters are really thin, the plot is simplistic and, frankly, you don't care if they suceed or not. Just not a very engaging film and we turned it off after 30 minutes or so. A real waste of a Saturday night.

I only gave it 2 stars because, as always with Dreamworks, the animation is simple awe inspiring.

Maybe small children would enjoy it but, if you're looking for another Dreamworks kids/adult cross-over film ala Shrek, look elsewhere!