OPEN SEASON

Directors: Roger Allers, Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi
Stars: Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing, Gary Sinise, Patrick Warburton
Year: 2006
Rating: PG

This terrific animated film stars Martin Lawrence, who voices the character of 900-lb. Boog, a domesticated griffly bear who lives in the mountain town of Timberline with his owner Beth (voiced by Debra Messing), who rescued him as a cub. Life is, indeed, GREAT for Boog - with Beth as host, he puts on a show for the local townspeople/tourists, lives in a garage where he sleeps on a big dog bed and eats Fishy Snacks when he's a good boy.

Enter Elliot (Ashton Kutcher, in a frenzied voice performance), a small deer with one antler from the wild, who Boog one day sees strapped to the hood of a pick-up truck driven by local hunting freak Shaw (Gary Sinise). Shaw hit Elliot with his truck (purposefully) the night before, snapping off one of Elliot's antlers, and strapped the unconscious deer to the hood of his vehicle to take him home. Boog, feeling sorry for Elliot, lets the deer free while Shaw's inside a local store - just in time for Shaw to see - and when Elliot becomes Boog's "buddy" ... causing a chain of events that has Beth convinced it's time to return Boog back to the wild ... Boog and Elliot find themselves high up in the mountains above Timberline, miles from home - and with the opening of hunting season just three days away. Boog and Elliot have to work together to get Boog back home, but Boog also has to deal with wildlife for the first time in his life - including surly, tree-hogging squirrels, overworked beavers, a pair of female skunks who take crap from no one, the rather big and stuck-up herd that kicked Elliot out in the first place (led by Ian, who is voiced by a very macho-sounding Patrick Warburton) ... and Shaw, who learns that Boog and Elliot have been returned to the wild, and is desperate to hunt them down.

The first 20-25 minutes of this film were kind of slow-going for me, and I wasn't sure I would warm up to it. The last third blew me away. Boog and Elliot and the other animals of the forest have to get (and work) together to fight the oncoming hunters - and that battle alone is worth watching the entire film for. The animation - which again, at first, didn't impress me so much - turned me around again as the film really got going, and I ended up really entranced by the look of the film (there's a dam burst sequence that is dazzling). Adults and children can equally enjoy this one, and I really ended up loving it, with a tear in my eye at the end, to boot. Just ... lots of fun, and worth catching for sure! Even Georgia Engel has a sweet, funny turn voicing a camper in the woods. Either way, this one ended up a really happy surprise. *** - Reel Cool