Review: Open Season
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Parents need to know that this movie is rife with bathroom humor involving toilets, poop, farts, spit, snot, and underwear. Younger kids will laugh at the obvious stuff and won't get the edgier humor aimed at older audiences. That said, some little ones might find the hunting-themed images -- guns, deer strapped to the front of trucks, hunters swarming the woods for fresh meat -- a bit disturbing. On the plus side, the movie might encourage older kids to put themselves in Boog's paws and consider what life is like outside their own neighborhood.
Families can talk about the importance of putting yourself in others' shoes. What if you went from a comfortable life -- like Boog's -- to having to fight for survival? Maybe that's a little weighty for kids under 10, but they'll get the message that it's good to nurture friendships and lean on each other through tough times. Families can also discuss the practice of hunting. Why do some people love hunting and others hate it? Why does hunting have to be regulated?
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie is rife with bathroom
humor involving toilets, poop, farts, spit, snot, and
underwear. Younger kids will laugh at the obvious stuff and
won't get the edgier humor aimed at older audiences. That said,
some little ones might find the hunting-themed images -- guns,
deer strapped to the front of trucks, hunters swarming the
woods for fresh meat -- a bit disturbing. On the plus side, the
movie might encourage older kids to put themselves in Boog's
paws and consider what life is like outside their own
neighborhood.
Families can talk about the importance of putting yourself in others' shoes. What if you went from a comfortable life -- like Boog's -- to having to fight for survival? Maybe that's a little weighty for kids under 10, but they'll get the message that it's good to nurture friendships and lean on each other through tough times. Families can also discuss the practice of hunting. Why do some people love hunting and others hate it? Why does hunting have to be regulated?
Common Sense Media Review
From some of the folks behind
The
Lion King
and
Monsters,
Inc.
comes an animated flick about the oddest of couples,
inspired by the work of cartoonist Steve Moore.
Martin Lawrence voices Boog, a domesticated 900-lb. grizzly bear who lives in a comfortable garage complete with a cozy bed, his own teddy bear, three square meals a day, and a TV he uses to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Though he refuses to admit it, Boog is a "pet" bear; his owner is a kooky, loveable park ranger named Beth ( Debra Messing). They live in the tranquil mountain town of Timberline.
One day while out and about with Beth, Boog sees a mule deer strapped to the front of a hunter's truck. He playfully pokes the deer, only to find that it's still alive and well! The chatty deer (think Donkey in Shrek ), named Elliot ( Ashton Kutcher), begs Boog to untie him. Boog agrees to help him out, but doesn't realize that he won't be able to get rid of the deer afterward. (Eliot, by the way, only has one antler. "Half doe, half buck," he says. "I'm a duck!")
