Par for the genre course  OK for kids but only a handful of laughs for adults

Rating: Null/10 (4 September 2007)

When raccoon RJ tries to steal the junk food stash of hibernating bear Vincent, he is given a week to replace it or become the food himself. RJ seeks out a new human community that has just been built. Meanwhile, a community of animals awaken from hibernation to find themselves cut off from the wilderness and separated from the neighbours by only a hedge. Despite the reservations of Verne's tale, the community of animals is convinced by RJ that they can gather lots of food from the humans rather than the wild. However RJ's impatience to rebuilt the stock of food for himself sees the neighbours taking action against the invading animals.
When people rent a comedy or an action movie, they don't expect it to be good simply because of the genre it is in. They might expect it to be their cup of tea because generally they enjoy comedy or action movies but simply being in the genre is no proof that it is any good. Although it is not really a genre per se, the films that fit into the world of Pixar animation with plenty for kids and adults with famous voices have historically been seen as well worth checking out. However, although the standard may have been set high when Pixar first hit, their have been some weak examples  indeed some of them from Pixar themselves. So it is with Over the Hedge, which has its moments but does seem to have assumed that if it just does what everyone else is doing then it will make money.
Which I'm sure it did  however this is different from the film being a good example of the genre. The plot is the usual morality tale with animals in it, which serves its purpose and allows for a "message" to be taught. This I had no problem with but it was the fact that the script was not smart enough or funny enough. As opposed to being full of golden one-liners and references, the script is actually mostly dialogue and the film relies heavily on physical comedy. I'm sure this is fine for kids but as an adult I found myself not laughing that often. It was still amusing though and I did have a handful or belly laughs  perhaps not enough to make it stand out but certainly enough to make it distracting fun for the 80 short minutes it lasted.
Following the conventions of the genre, Kirkpatrick directs with a steady hand and the film mostly looks good but he doesn't do a great deal that marks him out as special. It doesn't help that he is served with a terrible collection of songs that I personally found quite painful at times. The film also does the usual thing of loading the cast with famous voices but it seems to forget that really the casting should have focused on getting the right voice  not just the big name. This applies to a few but none more than Lavigne, who offers little more than her name. Willis is not offered much material but his voice is solid and his presence good. Shandling is good but does occasionally sound like he knows the material is a bit below him. Sykes is obvious and her character seems to be little more than her race. Carell is everyone's favourite, partly down to his delivery but mostly down to his material as he is easily the best character in the film. Nolte was well cast for his character, Church doesn't do much but Levy and Djalili are well used and give good performances. It was disappointing that the script did not make more references to Shatner as an actor  he was OK but the only time I was amused was his overacted "death" scene.
Overall then, an amusing if not totally successful entry in a genre that has seen standards drop of late. It has its moments, looks good, has plenty of famous voices and has a handful of good laughs but it is not as smart or funny as it would like to think it is. At times I did get the impression that it hoped that simply by aping others it would somehow just work. Good for kids and with the odd laugh for adults, it is amusing entertainment but just don't expect it to be anything other than par for the course.