Indeed, Carell Wuz Robbed!

Rating: 10/10 (10 November 2013)

This reviewer has seen more animated features -- we used to call them full length cartoons but, by the same token, we used to use phones the size of toasters with rotating dials on them -- than he cares to count. Some good. Some awful. Some great. But of that number there is only one that beckoned, enticed, and entreated me to watch it over and over. This is the film. I have seen it 6 times at least and have yet to get bored with it. It also makes me laugh out loud, and, from memory the only other time I can recall doing that was 1974. I love the way the story builds. I love the way the characters are developed. I love the fact that Gary Shandling lent his voice to the "tentative" reptile (turtle) because, since his own show disappeared eons ago, we don't see or hear enough of him. I love the way they created a character that allows Shatner to virtually drown in self-mockery, over and over and over, yet it is so subtle that, unless you have indeed seen the entire original Star Trek series like, 13 times each episode, you would never ever get the joke. I love the way the whole notion of gated communities is taken to task. I love that this film gives Hayden-Church a chance to score points based on voice alone. But what I keep seeing in this film on each successive viewing is how Carell took the character of Hamilton the Squirrel (who to be fair does not get a lot of lines) and made him the star. Carell, BTW, is not only a comic, he is the real deal, an actor, and he has played dark parts. So, as the film reaches its apex, and, to save the day, a can of triple-caffeine soda is passed to Hammy, and Hammy says with a giant stutter, "OHHH I am not supposed to drink THAT", I invariably fall off my chair in a spasm of laughter, and then bang my head on the coffee table. Time after time. What gets my goat is that they gave ELLEN an Oscar for basically playing a fish that was playing ELLEN, but ignored Carell for elevating this wonderful squirrel into one of the most memorable characters in film.