MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN (2014) **** out of ***** or 8 out of 10
(Who's your Doggie, er, Daddy?)
CAST: Voices of Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Allison Janney, Stephen Tobolowsky, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, Zach Callison, Lauri Fraser, Stanley Tucci, Lake Bell, Tom McGrath, Patrick Warburton.
DIRECTOR: Rob Minkoff
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some damn good arguments for non-conventional families - straight ahead...
IT'S LIKE THIS: There's that old chestnut that goes, "Every boy should have a dog." Well, if our next review is any indication, we should come up with a new one that says, "Every dog should have a boy - for a son..." Yes, folks... you read that right. Our next review is MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN, a cinematic adaptation of those old-school cartoons that used to run with THE ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE show or something. Our heroes are Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell), a white dog with a terrifyingly advanced intellect, and Sherman (Max Charles), a boy with a, well, normal intellect. To make things even more surreal, Mr. Peabody the Smarty-Pants Dog is also Sherman's adoptive father. Wait until the right-wing zealots clamoring against gays adopting kids hear about this set-up. They're going to go right through the fucking roof.
Anyhow, to say that Mr. Peabody and Sherman make up a rather uncoventional family is kind of like saying dogs like to pee on fire hydrants: a wee bit stating the obvious, no? Nevertheless, Mr. Peabody is the perfect father to our young Sherman. It doesn't hurt that they live in a glass penthouse so sweet that our jaws dropped down into our laps the second we saw it. If I could be guaranteed to live in a spread that awesome, I would let a rabid crocodile be my father. Yup, it appears to be smooth sailing for our canine father-human son combo, indeed.
Until the day Sherman bites a fellow classmate, that is. Before you judge our poor Sherman and call him a, well, rabid dog who needs training, let me share with you some extenuating circumstances: he was teased and bullied by the wicked witch-in-training named Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter), and he basically just gave her the karma she deserved by chomping her goddamned arm. Unfortunately, the dense school principal (Stephen Tobolowsky) doesn't see it that way and basically calls in Mr. Peabody and tells him that a social worker will be investigating his fitness as a father. And let me just say that this particular civil servant is a real pill. She is Ms. Grunion (Allison Janney), and she is as gracious and elegant and kind as her name suggests - which, basically, is zilch.
To show the world that he is a good father, Mr. Peabody invites not only Ms. Grunion to his suh-weeeeeeet penthouse for dinner, but also the Peterson family, which - in addition to the aforementioned bitch-tyke Penny - also includes Daddy Peterson (Stephen Colbert) and Mommy Peterson (Leslie Mann). While the adults (and dog) mingle in the living room, Sherman is forced to entertain Penny. I don't have to tell you that this is an undertaking that is about as easy as trying to get a demented mongoose to give up the snake carcass it's guarding. Or is it a demented snake and a mongoose carcass?
Whatever. The point is Sherman is so desperate to make Penny feel comfortable that he does the very thing that Mr. Peabody told him not to do: he tells her about "The Way-Back." And by "The Way-Back", I don't mean directions back to her fucking house, which would be ideal but then this would also be one short movie. Nope, The Way-Back is a time machine that Mr. Peabody invented which he uses to teach Sherman about history and other subjects. Except now, Sherman uses it to impress some stupid chick whom he really should have just thrown out the window the minute she arrived. Men...
Predictably, madness ensues as Sherman and Penny travel back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Tuscany, and other historical ports-of-call. Now, Mr. Peabody must not only try to give the Petersons and Ms. Grunion a good impression, but he must also save those brats Sherman and Penny - as well as seal a time rift that the dumbass time-traveling duo have inadvertently created. Will Mr. Peabody succeed? Or is the world doomed because Sherman didn't have the balls to tell Penny to take a hike and get out of his sight? And even if they save the world from the time rift, how will Mr. Peabody and Sherman deal with - gasp! - Ms. Grunion?
Five words: Good luck with that, boys...
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Our last review was the wonderfully imaginative, creative, and innovative family adventure THE LEGO MOVIE. That movie took an unoriginal concept ("A Hero Will Rise") and gave it a gloriously atypical and bracingly fresh execution. The result was a cinematic experience not quite like any other. Our next review, MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN, goes down the same path: it's concept of reckless time travel creating disastrous consequences that must be resolved is nothing new, but the particulars of its execution are where its originality shines through.
At the heart of the story is an uncoventional family in the form of a canine father and a human son - and how that family unit comes under scrutiny. MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN is aptly titled because, well, once you get past the razzle-dazzle and visual fireworks of the time travel plot, this movie is really about them and their bond - and how hard they fight to maintain it. There's a lovely montage that shows the evolution of their relationship, from the moment Mr. Peabody found Sherman as a baby left in an alley, to the adoption process, through Sherman's early years, and finally to the present. The song "Beautiful Boy" plays over this sequence - and vividly shows us the emotional core of the story: the love between a father and son.
Another great aspect of MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN is the appreciation for history that it promotes. The friend I went with mentioned afterwards that it would be great if kids everywhere would read more history books because of this film. It certainly does a terrific job of painting in vibrant colors and striking animations the various eras that Mr. Peabody, Sherman, and Penny visit. Whether we follow them to Greece, Egypt, France, or Italy, the settings and characters are all unforgettable and compelling. Tom McGrath is particularly hilarious as a lunk-headed Odysseus, and the "Trojan Horse" sequence is especially funny. So is Stanley Tucci as a scatterbrained Leonardo Da Vinci during the "Mona Lisa" sequence.
Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Allison Janney, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, Zach Callison, Lake Bell, Laurie Fraser, the aforementioned McGrath and Tucci, and many others voice the various colorful characters with flair and wit. Like THE LEGO MOVIE, the story is bolstered not only by strong lead characters and performances, but also a raft of equally sturdy supporting players. Both these films have a strong ensemble feel to them because of the stellar voicing across the board.
MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN rates just a tad below THE LEGO MOVIE because it lacks some of that movie's delightfully loony and unpredictable tone. Nevertheless, it is still a sweet, soaring adventure that not only espouses the wonders of history, but also celebrates family and fatherhood in all the many unexpected forms it takes...
