In the new animated film The Boss Baby, seven year old Timothy Templeton has the perfect life. As the only child, Timothy, voiced by Miles Bakshi, is adored by his doting parents, voiced by Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow. The trio do everything together, and Mom and Dad are able to give Timothy their undivided attention. Then one day Timothy’s life turns upside down when a baby brother is suddenly added to the family.
The baby, while seemingly adorable, is no ordinary baby. He is in fact a Boss Baby, sent on a mission by his company, the celestial Baby Corps. Timothy’s parents are oblivious to the baby’s adult mannerisms, and find it amusing that the baby wears a suit and carries a briefcase. Boss Baby, voiced by Alec Baldwin, has everyone fooled except Timothy.
Timothy becomes dismayed as his parents shift their attention from him to the baby, and he slowly develops resentment toward his new sibling. He is irritated that Mom and Dad are devoting all their time toward the baby, thus disrupting the family’s routine, including tucking Timothy in at night. Just who does this baby think he is? Is there enough love in his parents’ hearts for both Timothy and the infant intruder?
As he observes his new brother, Timothy makes a shocking discovery – the baby can talk! Timothy is eager to expose Boss Baby for being a fraud, but Boss Baby is equally intent on keeping Timothy’s mouth shut. Who will win? As the brothers vie for control of their parents’ affection, a situation presents itself where Timothy has to decide whether it is beneficial to him to work with Boss Baby rather than against him.
The animated film, based on Marla Frazee’s book The Boss Baby, is humorous and creative with a fresh plot. While there are plenty of scenes that are cute, none of them necessarily left me in stitches. I appreciated how Alec Baldwin’s character threw out some clever lines from iconic movies, including parodying some of his own lines from the film Glengarry Glen Ross. Those references went over kids’ heads, but were definitely not lost on the adults in the theater.
One aspect of the film that I especially liked were Timothy’s imaginative play sequences, which made me a little nostalgic for my own childhood, where I too once fought dragons, pirates, and ninjas while donning my superhero cape. (Is it sad that I still have my cape? It’s got a giant, pink heart with a gold, sequined C, and it’s so lovely.)
My husband Mike and I saw the film with our family friend Gabe, who’s in first grade. Gabe liked it, but was mildly disappointed that it wasn’t as funny as he thought it would be based on the trailer. Gabe described The Boss Baby as “good” rather than great, but maintained that his friends would definitely like it.
Mike, while several gray hairs Gabe’s senior, shared Gabe’s opinion. He said, “I absolutely love Alec Baldwin in comedic roles like Saturday Night Live, but I didn’t laugh as hard as I thought I would. I felt like one of the funniest scenes was in the very beginning, where we see where babies supposedly come from, and everything after that was more so cute rather than hysterical.”
Even though there are some chase scenes, Gabe said he wasn’t scared in the slightest. (The only part that I found scary was wondering if Gabe was going to ask us if the movie was accurate in its presentation of where babies come from . . . Thank goodness he didn’t!) Overall if you’re looking for a family friendly film that will bring a smile to your face, check out The Boss Baby.
Movie times: click here
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Director: Tom McGrath
Actors: Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Tobey Maguire
Rating: PG for some mild rude humor
Running Time: 1 hour 37 minutes
