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Adults may enjoy Home better by visualizing Jim Parsons in his role as Sheldon
B-Let’s start with a confession: when watching animated films featuring familiar vocal talents such as Jim Parsons and Steve Martin in Dreamworks’ new Home, I sometimes visualize the actors themselves in their animated roles. Imagining color-changing six-legged versions of Sheldon and King Tut confronting each other made it easier for me to get through the slow spots in the film.
Both Sheldon and Tut—pardon me, Oh and Captain Smek—are members of the Boov, the most benign group of alien invaders ever. They take over the Earth and banish everyone to cramped but colorful communities in Australia. Everyone except Tip (Rihanna), a tween girl who, with her cat Pig, is looking for her mother (Jennifer Lopez). She and Oh, whose cheerful manner and frequent foulups don’t sit well with the rest of the Boov, become reluctant traveling companions.
Home is based on two interrelated quests: both Tip and Oh are trying to regain their place in a family or in a society. And, while the movie teaches some basic lessons about acceptance and the importance of family, it mostly involves frenetic chases and often silly slapstick. Towards that end, Steve Martin gets the lion’s share of the laughs as the Boov’s incompetent but self-important leader, Captain Smek. Martin has a lot of fun with the role and director Tim Johnson affords Smek plenty of both physical and verbal pitfalls. Much of Parsons’ humor is derived from the very strange manner in which he mangles the English language (English teachers will cringe at this movie). At times, Home may be tiring for adults, but it’s sincere and generally amusing, especially for the youngsters.
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