2015, 20th Century Fox
Animation
Rating: G
Approx. 88 mins.
THE STORY:
Affable, artless Charlie Brown is busy trying to survive the daily travails of life with the Peanuts gang, when along comes the new girl in school: the little red-haired girl of his dreams. His general awkwardness skyrockets as he tries to appear like a winner in her eyes.
The drama escalates when his test paper is confused with another student's and he is mistaken for a genius. Suddenly everything he does is just and clever in other's eyes, and for a brief time he enjoys his new reputation. But he soon realizes the error and is faced with a moral dilemma: stay quiet and bask in the praise, or be honest and risk losing the respect of his friends and the love of the little red-haired girl.
The drama escalates when his test paper is confused with another student's and he is mistaken for a genius. Suddenly everything he does is just and clever in other's eyes, and for a brief time he enjoys his new reputation. But he soon realizes the error and is faced with a moral dilemma: stay quiet and bask in the praise, or be honest and risk losing the respect of his friends and the love of the little red-haired girl.
QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:
none
VIOLENCE:
none
TEACHING POINTS:
- honesty is not easy, but is the only way to live with integrity
- others' opinions of you are not as important as your own
THE UPSHOT:
This modern adaptation remains amazingly loyal to the original in all possible respects-- script, story, visuals, characters, you name it. So if you grew up watching the Peanuts gang, the almost palpable nostalgia alone will endear you to this film. I did not, so it did not.
That said, I did enjoy The Peanuts Movie quite a bit. The dialogue is clever and tight, and there is some gentle but consistent humour; but I couldn't help thinking that a lot was lost on the 7-year-old in the room. My biggest criticism, though, would be that the entire story is laid out in the first 10 to 15 minutes, and it then feels like a very long journey toward the ultimate resolution.
If the film made me wax nostalgic, it would be a 4. But, as it didn't, it's a ...
3/5
That said, I did enjoy The Peanuts Movie quite a bit. The dialogue is clever and tight, and there is some gentle but consistent humour; but I couldn't help thinking that a lot was lost on the 7-year-old in the room. My biggest criticism, though, would be that the entire story is laid out in the first 10 to 15 minutes, and it then feels like a very long journey toward the ultimate resolution.
If the film made me wax nostalgic, it would be a 4. But, as it didn't, it's a ...
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