Film Reviews

Barnyard

• Rating:
• Director: Steve Oedekerk.
• Starring: Kevin James, Sam Elliot, Courtney Cox, Danny Glover.
• Details: US / 90mins (PG).

Toy Story-meets-Animal Farm is the pitch for Barnyard, and if you think that union sounds like a laugh riot, you're only half right. It starts out funnily enough as writerdirector Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty/Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls) introduces his various characters and his strange new world. When the farmer is away, the animals of the barnyard play: walking on hind legs, talking, and partying down at raves organised by the fun-loving bull Otis (James - TV's King Of Queens).Otis's carefree ways disappoint his father and wise old leader of the animals, Ben (Elliot); the serious, cud-chomping bull is more worried about the deadly coyotes roaming around outside, threatening to kill his friends, than joining his fellow animals in the games. When Ben is attacked and killed by the coyotes, it is left to Otis to take over his father's duties - but has he the mettle to defeat the bad guys? Although it offers something new in children's anime (a violent death, genuinely scary bad guys), Barnyard feels like a wasted opportunity. Oedekerk could have spent more time with the various characters and their idiosyncrasies, as they are really the funniest part of the film: the Mafioso (New) Jersey cows and the black-market-running gophers are easily the best of the bunch. However, Oedekerk runs too fast to get to the plot set up, and once that happens most of the jokes fall by the wayside, taken over by go-nowhere subplots. But if you can forgive the pro-Bush subtext (it's kind of obvious by the end) and the anatomical incorrectness of giving bulls prominent udders, Barnyard can be bit of fun if you're in the mood for a laugh.

Review by Gavin Burke