How Sweet Is This Film?

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2003)

"Finding Nemo" is beyond charming and incredibly sweet. So sweet, in fact, that the worst I can say about it is that parts left me with a toothache.
The film begins in melodramatic, "Bambi" style with the tragic deaths of Coral and 399 of her eggs, leaving only her husband, Marlin, and their sole surviving son, Nemo (FYI: Nemo is Latin for 'no one'). As a result, Marlin is very over-protective of Nemo; driving him (Nemo) to disobey his father, swimming out into open water, where he is captured by divers ("Do they think they own the ocean?" "They must be American!"). From there, the story diverges, following Nemo's life in a dentist office tank and Marlin's frantic search for his son. The ensuing adventures are tender, funny, entertaining, and occasionally frightening. Although predictable, the story's resolution is the cherry on top of this delightful sundae.
Worth special mention is the film's amazing animation. No other animated film has yet captured water's beauty in the way this film does. The colors are so realistic; but also worth stressing, is the wonderful ways in which all of the characters physically display personalities. Who knew that fish could be so expressive?
As I mentioned at the beginning, the sweetness is the film's main weakness. Parts actually elicited an audibly "ahhhh" from the audience, which may be a bit over the top. These same parts almost seemed to beg that response, which I think is the problem: not that the film is sweet, but that it wants to you think that its sweet.
Another pet peeve of mine is the almost exclusively supporting role female characters play. Women in Pixar films, with the possible exception of Boo in "Monsters, Inc.", are always sidekicks, never the focus of the narrative. Ellen DeGeneres (`Dory') is certainly fantastic, but her role really only exists to cause change in Marlin (Albert Brooks).
That being said, I really, really, enjoy this movie: 8/10 (which is high for me).