Awe-inspiring animation does not a watchable movie make

Rating: Null/10 (16 July 2003)

First things first. Ellen Degeneres and Albert Brooks aren't funny. They never have been. So when Disney slots this bungling pair as the voices of the two lead characters in FINDING NEMO, then we haven't got much to look forward to. Or have we? After all, the animation is stunning. And once we get past the fact that Degeneres' voice comes from a fish actually modeled to look like her, then it is momentarily possible to get lost in the pixelated splendor of Disney's greatest animating achievement to date. The sea sparkles with the magical touches of what must have been countless talented, tireless animators. But is this enough? The plot stinks like a rancid Freudian family drama. And the missing sexual tension between the two lead characters (both single) is a glaring mistake. But it does have something going for it. Almost every scene on land is fantastic. The comedy is spot on, and the noticeable disparity between good jokes and great timing (on land) and dull, tiresome jokes in the sea (where most of the movie is spent, and where Brooks and Degeneres flounder along, oblivious to their own inanity) make the humor on land seem that much better. Overall, however, the movie is unbearable. It's one thing for it to be unswervingly predictable. Sure, every Disney movie is. But getting from beginning to end doesn't have to seem like a chore, a penance for some wrong that i didn't realize i committed. Or maybe the wrong was simply buying the movie tickets and supporting Disney. And i sure got punished for that.