FINDING NEMO

2003, Pixar

Animation

Rating: G

Approx. 100 mins.

THE STORY:

Scarred by the death of his wife and all but 1 of his offspring, Marlin (Albert Brooks) the unfunny clown fish lives in dread terror of any harm befalling his young son, Nemo.  He vows to protect Nemo from danger at all costs, and ends up over-protecting him from life. In a moment of rebellion, Nemo is caught by a diver and taken away. So begins Marlon’s quest to find Nemo.

Along his journey—which ends in Sydney, Australia—Marlin meets a variety of interesting creatures and acquires a companion: Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a highly talkative glass-is-half-full type fish with zero short term memory.  At the same time, Nemo makes some good friends and, ironically, finds his independence while trapped in a fish tank. Ultimately, both father and son end up finding Nemo.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• None

VIOLENCE:

• none

TEACHING POINTS:

• If you try to stop anything from happening to someone you love, nothing will ever happen to them
• ‘Handicaps’ can only be handicaps if you let them
• A parent’s job is to help a child know that they can do, not that they can’t

THE UPSHOT:

The adults in the room laughed consistently. So did the kids. Unfortunately, much of the humour was not overlapping and there were a lot of frustrated, “What’s funny?” whines. Scenes like the shark support group—Fish are friends; fish are not food—are largely lost on the little ones, but priceless for those old enough to know the 12-step clichés. Luckily, there is plenty of non-complicated silliness to distract the kids from their frustration.

Finding Nemo is funny, clever, visually impressive and well acted. Thoroughly enjoyable.

5/5