Movie Review - Home

Home (2015)

Featuring the voice talents of Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, and Jennifer Lopez

Directed by Tim Johnson

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

While there's part of me that respects Home for being a two-character dialog-driven film for more than half of its running time, I unfortunately can't praise the film as it lacks drive, interesting characters, and a plot worthy of a feature film.  Animation-wise, it's basically typical Dreamworks -- which means it's a rung lower than Pixar and Disney films -- with its plastic-looking characters that do little to draw in the audience.

The alien race of the Boov are on the run across galaxies from the evil Gorg who is destroying every planet the Boov decide to inhabit.  The Boov happen upon Earth and, as they are wont to do on whatever planet upon which they land, the aliens zap up all the locals -- that'd be the humans in this case -- and place them all in one central location on the planet -- that'd be Australia in this case (and the fact that Australia began its "modern" existence as a penal colony did not escape me).  As the Boov take over the major cities of Earth, one Boov in particular named Oh (voiced by Jim Parsons) finds himself the kooky odd Boov out of his race which is typically very by-the-book and regimented.  With a zest for life, Oh inadvertently sends out a mass e-mail inviting the entire Boov race to a party at his new apartment.  Unfortunately, he also sent the invite to the evil Gorg which causes the villain to set his sights on Earth.  Shunned by his people, Oh goes into hiding where he meets a seventh grade human girl named Tip (Rihanna) who appears to be the only human not transported out of her town.  Missing her mother (voiced by Jennifer Lopez) Oh agrees to help Tip find where the Boov have placed all the humans as he also hopes to hide from all those looking to roast him for alerting the Gorg to their new location.

All that Boov and Gorg talk has me tired -- and Home unfortunately feels a little tired as well.  Its premise lacks originality as I feel like I've seen similarly themed stories done better in the past.  For being rather short, the flick feels repetitive, hitting the same emotional beats over and over again -- how many times do we have to witness Oh do something silly with a human item or misuse an English word?  Jim Parsons is okay, but Rihanna's deep, somewhat grizzled voice just doesn't fit the part for a seventh grader -- unless that seventh grader has spent a lot of time smoking cigarettes on the corner.  Jennifer Lopez does provide a quiet nurturing to her character and Steve Martin as the ruler of the Boov add a little bit of spark, but neither are major roles so any positives they add are somewhat muted.  Overall, Home just doesn't hit the mark and lacks the emotion that a flick like this needs.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-