Owen Wilson, so much fun in the 2011 Woody Allen comedy Midnight in Paris, and the best thing about the recent job-loss comedy The Internship (reuniting with his Wedding Crashers co-star Vince Vaughn no less), generates laughs just with his aw-shucks personality and boyish facial expressions.
When it comes to being funny, Wilson makes it look so easy.
Wilson’s comic skills are put to the test in director Jimmy Hayward’s silly 3D cartoon comedy Free Birds, a kid-friendly tale about a pair of mismatched turkeys who travel back in time (really) to convince the pilgrims to take turkey off of their first Thanksgiving menu.
As Reggie, arguably the smartest turkey on his farm and the lucky recipient of the presidential turkey pardon, Wilson shifts his charm onto the skinny cartoon turkey and hero of the movie. Wilson sparks laughs from start to finish just with the sound of his voice; which is doubly impressive when you sit back and consider just how flimsy Hayward’s Thanksgiving-theme cartoon turns out to be.
As Jake, a no brains/all brawn survivalist turkey who kidnaps Reggie for his time travel mission, Woody Harrelson matches Wilson well and the two actors toss jokey zingers at each other with the skill of a seasoned comedy team.
Of all the celebrity voices in Free Birds, the only letdown is Amy Poehler as the pilgrim era, female turkey Jenny, a bird who’s twice as tough as Reggie and probably twice as smart.
Poehler fails to keep up with Wilson and Harrelson in the zingers department. It’s safe to say without her trademark sneer (made famous during her stint on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update news desk and polished to perfection on NBC’s Parks and Recreation), the 42-year-old comedienne doesn’t have the knack for voice comedy just yet.
George Takei has better luck with his role as S.T.E.V.E., voice of the time machine that takes Reggie and Jake back to Plymouth Rock.
Hayward, a cartoon veteran with Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Horton Hears A Who! to his credits, and co-writers Scott Mosier, a cartoon newbie best known for the indie comedies Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy, David I. Stern and John J. Strauss borrow liberally from past cartoons like Chicken Run and TV’s Peabody’s Improbable Adventures as well as some battle scenes from Braveheart.
The result is a mishmash tale that’s not silly enough to qualify as absurd cartoon genius (think TV’s The Regular Show or Adventure Time) but a little too silly to match the emotional impact of classic animation storytelling like Wreck-It Ralph or The Incredibles.
Basically, Hayward delivers a film that’s fun enough to keep kids in their seats for 85 minutes (parents will squirm a little). Still, I can’t see kids watching this turkey adventure over and over again, which is the ultimate goal of all kid cartoons.
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