Bee Movie
Jerry Seinfeld’s project, Bee Movie, is a cute and funny animated film that lingers a little too long, meanders a little too much, and is relatively forgettable as a result. Seinfeld wrote, produced, and “starred” in Bee Movie, which was released November 2nd, 2007. The film was produced by DreamWorks animation and was directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner. Bee Movie is Seinfeld’s first film script, but he had help from Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, and Barry Marder. How’s that for useless information, huh?
As is the trend with animated films these days, Bee Movie features an extensive cast of characters. Seinfeld stars as Barry Bee Benson, a bee who has just graduated college and is now off to work his life away making honey. He is an adventurous bee, however, and wants to see the world outside. Eventually, Barry is taken along on a pollen expedition and winds up having quite the adventure on the outside. He ends up in a human home, occupied by a bully named Ken (Patrick Warburton) and a kind-hearted florist, Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). Barry strikes up a “relationship” with Vanessa and reveals that he can, indeed, talk. As the friendship between Barry and Vanessa develops, Barry discovers that humans are eating and producing honey of their own and, thus, messing with the livelihood of the bees. Barry sets out on an extensive quest to stop this from happening and sues the human race with a lavish court trial.
Seinfeld’s film, let’s just call it that, is a colourful and fast-moving film for the most part, but it lags right around the 50-minute mark and never regains a good pace. Bee Movie has, as mentioned, enough celebrity voices and cameos to keep it largely interesting, but somehow it stumbles overall despite its humour and good-nature. John Goodman, Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson, Rip Torn, Ray Liotta, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Richards, Larry King, Sting, and Megan Mullally all turn up as vocal talents. The characters are often funny, but aren’t ever more engaging than their jokes.
The jokes are the real substance here in Bee Movie. With lots of jabs at politics and pop culture, Bee Movie keeps a relatively entertaining pace for the adults and fans of Seinfeld’s material overall. Seinfeld’s mannerisms and ideas come out of Barry with relative ease, making this a great transition for him and turning him into a really effective and entertaining voice actor. With him guiding the action here and keeping things relatively fresh, the film works. Without him, the film would have been bland and atypical. His energy and composure under the role, including his ability to spout some pretty ridiculous things in earnest, make Bee Movie an entertaining little piece of fluff.
The thing about Bee Movie is that it doesn’t really have to be much more than it is. It has cheesy bee jokes, deliberately adult humour, colourful animation, and a somewhat interesting plot until it meanders off. It’s a perfectly capable entertainment piece that doesn’t demand a whole lot and, like Seinfeld’s humour, is pretty damn funny for the most part. Bee Movie is quaint, quiet, cute family fun. Take it easy and enjoy this one.
Trailer:
