Leaving the Nest Is Hard to Do

See if this plot sounds familiar: a nerdy, un-ambitious, stuck-in-a-rut young man is tossed into a crazy whirlwind of circumstances with a smart, strong young woman. The young woman, who has made it clear that she wants nothing more than her freedom and independence, falls for the nerdy guy despite his fear of life and general tendency to bungle everything. They break up, but then the nerdy guy has to save the young woman from something (sometimes, even herself), which forces him to finally become a man.

No, I’m not describing a Judd Apatow movie here. I’m describing Rio in 3D.

Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is a blue macaw who was stolen from Brazil when he was just a baby. He has been raised ever since by Linda (Leslie Mann, who is, ironically, Judd Apatow’s wife), who owns a bookstore in Minnesota. Blu is a super-smart, neurotic mama’s boy who can’t fly, but one day, an ornithologist from Brazil named Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) comes into Linda’s shop. He explains that Blu is the only surviving blue macaw on earth. Thankfully, there is also one surviving female blue macaw, but she’s back at his bird rescue lab in Brazil. Would Linda be willing to bring Blu there to save the entire species? Linda refuses, fearing that the trip would be too much for her beloved bird. Later, she realizes that she must do the right thing and tells Blu that he needs to be her “big, brave boy.” They’re off to Rio.

When Blu meets his betrothed, Jewel (Anne Hathaway), things don’t go well. She has nothing but disdain for the fact that he’s such a wimp, and that he misses his owner. (She calls him a pet, but he objects by telling her that he’s actually a “companion.”) All Jewel wants to do is escape and get back to her life of freedom. They’re a horrible match, of course, but before you can say “romantic comedy,” they’re captured by smugglers again.

The animation in Rio is spectacular, as is just about everything else. The musical numbers are snappy and abundantly enriched by the fact that they’re being performed by rainbow-hued exotic birds and feckless monkeys. The colors, textures, sounds and landscapes in this film are extraordinary.

Eisenberg is perfectly cast as Blu, and Hathaway does fine with her cookie-cutter part. The supporting actors are all perfectly cast, especially Jemaine Clement as the malevolent cockatoo Nigel and Tracy Morgan as Luiz, the slobbering bulldog.

I recommend Rio for both kids and adults. The 3-D didn’t add much for me, but some of the jokes are very funny, and the kids around me in the theater laughed long and hard at the pratfalls.

Four Patches out of five.

Overheard in the Ladies' Room

I waited patiently in the ladies' room today for some good overhearing, but clearly no one needed to use the facilities.

Instead, I approached a little girl and boy on the sidewalk outside the theater.

“Did you guys see the bird movie?”

Both of them beamed up at me.

I asked them, “Did you like it?”

They simultaneously yelled, “Yeah!”

Then I asked, “What did you like about it?”

The girl said, “I liked when they sang Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta …”

I tried to get her to be more specific. “When they sang what?”

At this point the mom started looking a little nervous and grabbed her daughter’s hand. She wouldn’t look me in the eye, the way you don’t make eye contact with crazy homeless people, but she said to the middle distance, “She just liked the singing parts.”

Then the girl’s little brother chimed in.

“I liked the motorcycle!”

“That was silly, wasn't it?” I said, trying to get him to elaborate.

Now the mother really looked alarmed and grabbed both kids’ hands. She started to drag them away from me. I started to follow so that I could explain myself.

“I’m writing a movie review. That’s why I’m  talking to your children.”

She didn’t say anything and hustled her kids to a minivan. When we passed each other in the parking lot, she kept her face turned away when I waved to her.