Movie Review - The Secret Life of Pets

The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Featuring the vocal talents of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, and Albert Brooks 

Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney

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

There's nothing inherently wrong with the animated The Secret Life of Pets, but this Illumination Entertainment picture (from the company that brought us the mind-bogglingly popular and also mind-numbing Despicable Me franchise) doesn't excite in any way -- visually, vocally, plot-wise.  In the end, it just sort of sits there, creating amusing-enough background noise, but not involving the viewer in any way.

In full disclosure, I'm not a "pet person" so the plot about what happens when owners leave their pets home alone for the day doesn't ingratiate itself to me at all.  Human Katie (Ellie Kemper) and her dog Max (Louis C.K.) have a nice life together in their small apartment in New York City.  Things are going swell for Max, but then Katie decides to adopt another dog -- a big ole mutt named Duke (Eric Stonestreet) -- which sets off a tension-filled fight for dominance between the two canines.  This leads to a romp through the Big Apple with silly story tangents that fail to really create a cohesively engaging story.

Much like other Illumination Animation pictures, the visuals look decent, but never exquisitely intricate or cleverly designed.  The basic nature carries over to the vocal talent which takes a cadre of comedians who give solid performances, but nothing exciting.  The lack of anything truly riveting is a staple of this studio's animated pics and until they up the ante, they'll just be middle-of-the-road like The Secret Life of Pets.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Identity Thief

Identity Thief (2013)

Starring Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Favreau, Amanda Peet, Tip "T.I." Arris, Genesis Rodriguez, Morris Chestnut, John Cho, Robert Patrick, and Eric Stonestreet

Directed by Seth Gordon

Maybe it's because I was bracing myself for something horrid based off reviews, but Identity Thief isn't half bad.  I laughed a few times (not nearly enough, however), but this one seemed to have much vitriol headed its way.  Admittedly, I had grown tired of Melissa McCarthy's supposed shtick -- I loved her in Bridesmaids, but thought she was phoning it in for her bit role in This Is 40 -- and the previews for Identity Thief depicted her as being much of the same old-same old.  However, her role as Diana, a Florida gal who steals peoples' identities, actually was a bit more well-rounded than I expected, stepping beyond the brashness we've come to expect from her movie characters.

Don't mistake this praise for something fantastic, though.  Identity Thief is a comedy with not enough laughs and a subplot that's simply horrid involving two sets of criminals chasing after Diana for payback for wrongdoings she's enacted upon them.  If the film was smart, it would have had the nerve to simply make itself focus on Diana and Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman), the schmuck whom Diana took advantage of by stealing nearly everything he had.  When Sandy is faced with losing his job because of Diana's dirty thievery, he leaves Colorado to track her down in Florida and force her to return to Colorado to tell his boss that he isn't involved in the crimes she's committed.  (He's told by police that they essentially can't do anything which conveniently allows for this set-up to happen.)  On their cross country trek, they bond and become emotionally attached all the while avoiding the bad guys who are trying to hunt down Diana.

I'm sure many critics lambasted the mushiness of the film's final act, but I must admit that I found it welcoming and that it shed a decent light on Ms. McCarthy.  There are moments here that prove she's more than just a raucous buffoon and that she may have more to offer the movie industry than what she's given us prior.  Of course, I say this and can't help but think that The Heat is simply a return to what we've seen from her before...but maybe like Identity Thief the trailers were a poor indication of what was to come.

Jason Bateman is fine here and perfectly watchable, and I really do wish the film had the courage to have simply made this a movie about two people and their interactions with one another.  The extraneous plots of both a bounty hunter (Robert Patrick) and a two criminals sold faulty credit cards (Genesis Rodriguez and T.I.) were horribly underwritten and seemingly shoe-horned into things without any rhyme or reason.  Less is more in comedy and, as I always say, we can thank Judd Apatow  (who I don't think was involved in this at all) for the modern notion that comedies must be as lengthy as possible to have "substance."  Still, while I'm well aware lowered expectations helped this one, Identity Thief wasn't nearly as bad as other critics would have you think.

The RyMickey Rating:  C