"Crood", But Definitely Not "Crude"

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2013)

"The Croods" is a Dreamworks animated film about a dysfunctional prehistoric family fighting to live to tomorrow. The all-star cast includes Nicholas Cage as the extremely overprotective father, Emma Stone as the angsty teenage daughter, Ryan Reynolds as the mysterious and handsome dreamer, and Cloris Leachman as the crazy old granny. Combining humor, heart, and wit this epitomizes the picturesque family film.
I'm just going to start off with the comment that'll show my presumptuous liberal arts education to get it out of the way. For a good majority of the film there are two reoccurring pieces: the cave that keeps them safe from the outside world and the newly devised toolfire. The father, Grug, made the family spend day after day in the cave in order to protect them from the creatures and dangers of the outside world. To the family it was totally fine, because that was all they knew. Then this good-looking drifter appears, Guy, with his tangible sun (fire) and explains to them that there is more to the life they are living (the promise of tomorrow). Is this a reference to Plato's Allegory of the Cave? I cannot be the only person to make this connection Alas I have nothing insightful to add here except to say that if the screenwriter and creators of the film had Plato's Allegory in mind when writing this they are going far beyond any children's movie I've seen. Bravo!
The basis of the plot, although not entirely innovative, was rather creative. Whenever writers pen an other worldly story they have the ability to create whatever fantastical and imaginative universe they want. This prehistoric realm was truly impressive. Carnivorous birds. Land whales. Moving greenery. And without a great animation team this world would fall flat. Thankfully the art was majestic, entrancing, and magical. Every piece fell seamlessly into place manifesting this marvelous land of wonder.
The true story has much less to do with the prehistoric backdrop, and more to do with the family that is living in it. It just proves that families were insane and oppositional from the beginning of time. Without exposing too much of the film, there are very profound family centric values that are explored. An overbearing father who will do anything to protect his family. A daughter that is completely embarrassed of her family and still wholly loves them. Many animated films attempt to reach this profundity and fall short. These writers, however, did an inexplicable job at adding such depth to the story that even my salty and bleak heart ached.
I don't know if there will ever be a way to explain how affected I was by this film. Visually it was beautiful. The story went far beyond miniscule themes of "be kind" and "love one another" to a plane of tenets that are difficult to grapple even as an adult. And on top of all of this it was rather funny. Don't let the title mislead you. This film is far from crude.