Once more, “making it on your own” and “finding yourself” take center stage only this time in CGI on the big screen.
A Pixar remake of the once popular Norman Lear TV series, “Brave” plays out with all the kooky irreverence of a 70s sit-com. Set in mythical Scotland and Indiana, the film examines self-discovery even if what you find is odd.
A milestone for Pixar/Disney, this is their first production based on a television show, having purchased the 1975 – 1984 series from CBS.
According to Pixar executive Marcus Flan the move was designed to experiment with “modalities of success.”
No one is certain what that means, but if Pixar said it you know it’s good.
Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) is our Bonnie Franklin, a mother trying to raise a rebellious teenage daughter, Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald). Merida is our Mackenzie Phillips, a try-anything teen as well as a crack archer, determined to blaze her own trail in life.
This is easier than it seems, since most of the male characters are dumb, hapless, thoughtless or a combination thereof. Merida zips through life and archery like Lebron James massacring kids in a game of horse.
Nevertheless Queen Elinor fears her daughter will grow up to be a ‘who-or.’
But then fate intervenes.
Out rule breaking one day, Merida flaunts a serious taboo. She activates a magical curse that transports her and Queen Elinor to an apartment in 1975 Indianapolis. (Here the script by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman and Irene Mecchi veers onto shaky ground.) Uncertain of how to return to mythical Scotland, Queen Elinor must get a job while Merida attends high school.
Now the fish-out-of-water really start jumping.
Disobeying her mother, Merida ditches school to attend a rock concert. But there she accidentally wounds a roadie with an arrow. Wanted by authorities, the princess flees to California where she finds refuge with committed Renaissance Faire players who never remove their costumes.
Meanwhile, the Queen lands work in an advertising agency where co-workers invite her to hot tubs and disco parties. She joins a feminist poetry group. At first all goes well, but Elinor quits when the other women insist she remove her crown.
I won’t spoil the rest but it’s pretty crazy stuff.
That said, the film cried out for the steady hand of Schneider, played on TV by veteran laugh smith, Pat Harrington Jr. As the building superintendent, Schneider’s artless sexual passes and obsessive tool belt fiddling always brightened a scene, leaving the viewer in a pleasant mode to absorb advertising.
Directors Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell could have upped their game by drawing on more of television’s proven comedy techniques.
Jim Passions showed his fire by color timing without credit.
As a fanatical One Day at a Time fan, I feel too close to the material.
You select the number of stars this film should receive and leave them in the comments.
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