Finding Nemo

Reviewed by:
Ben Goldstein

Pixar Studios, the powerhouse animating unit behind kids-friendly fare like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Monsters, Inc., shits the crib (so to speak) a bit on its latest offering. Instead of lighthearted fluff sprinkled with all-ages chuckles, the family is treated to a father’s desperate quest to find his handicapped son—and last remaining kin, since his wife and other children were slaughtered—following his kidnapping and enslavement by a sadistic Australian dentist (cue crying children). Evidently, the people at Pixar reckoned that if they simply made the main characters cartoon fish, this grim, violent tale would be appropriate for kids. Not so much. Finding Nemo splits time between ferocious ocean predators’ attempts to devour the protagonists, and the neurotic, grating wailing of Albert Brooks (who lends his voice to Marlin, Nemo’s father), in a seemingly continuous loop. In other words, it’s way too intense for youngsters and way too tedious and aggravating for their parents. And, frankly, way too Ellen DeGeneres for us.