Running Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes
Rating: PG
Directors: Chris Renaud, Kyle Bada
Quick Impressions:
Unlike other Seuss classics, The Lorax never played a very prominent role in my childhood because it had the same effect on my mother that Chinatown has on me—i.e., it depressed her into a stupor of such despairing disgust that she wished that she’d chosen to drown in a pool of her own vomit instead of reading it. So I’ve never been a big Lorax fan, though I am a big fan of trees.
I was incredibly excited to take our kids to see The Lorax last Friday night because 1) I loved Horton Hears a Who and found Despicable Me consistently funny and entertaining, and 2) its release meant we’d finally stop seeing previews for The Lorax before every movie. (Next week when John Carter finally comes out, my triumph over repetitive movie previews will be complete!) So many Seuss stories have been butchered on the big screen, but Horton Hears a Who turned out so well that I was willing to give its creators a shot to repeat their success with The Lorax.
Well…
You’d expect the story to be thin in a movie based on a picture book, and The Lorax didn’t disappoint me (as a skeptical critic. As a theater goer, I was disappointed).
I’m never a fan of material that’s too heavy handed, even when I agree with the message it’s trying to impart. To me, the first Happy Feet was insufferably boring and not at all subtle (though it was visually appealing and musically…musical). The same goes here. I did not hate The Lorax as much as I hated Happy Feet, but I didn’t love it as much as I loved Horton, either.
Despite the gorgeous visuals and catchy songs, The Lorax failed to wow me. The story was thin. The message oversimplified a complex issue. And most of the jokes didn’t land.
The Good:
My three-year-old always takes off her 3D glasses. For The Lorax she left them on longer than she ever has before (though I think the delightful Despicable Me 2 teaser deserves much of the credit for that).
Aesthetically, the movie not only succeeds but excels. The bright, bold colors are joyous to behold, and the Truffula trees are just gorgeous.
The musical numbers are also great. The songs are infectiously cheerful and enthusiastically performed. (I did find it odd that Betty White as Grammy Norma practically sang more than Zac Efron as the protagonist, Ted, but I’m sure there’s a reason for that. And I could be wrong but I don’t think Taylor Swift’s character, Audrey, sang at all.)
We also enjoyed the fish chorus and the cute little bears.
And of course, the message is solid. Don’t be wasteful. Don’t be greedy. Don’t use more than you need. We only have one world.
The Negatives:
To me, the pacing seemed way off. The movie seemed to take forever to tell a relatively short and predictable story. (To be fair, however, I must disclose that the night we watched it, I’d just begun treatment for a UTI, so perhaps viewers in better health will find the pacing satisfactory.)
Still, regardless of pacing, I felt the story lacked substance sufficient to support its flashy style. Obviously, the singing, dancing, insanely gleeful town of Thneedville is a fake place, full of uber-hyped-up citizens who have been deliberately distracted from introspection. They live every day in Disneyland, unaware of the problems outside of their dome (and easily convinced by secretly malevolent forces that living under a dome and paying for air is not a problem in and of itself).
I thought the movie was trying to lull the audience into a similar state. (“Look how great this movie is! It’s full of singing and dancing and bright colors and celebrity voices, and it’s about saving Earth! You love it! You love it! Even though there’s nothing to it beyond this pitch, you love it!”)
I’m aware that in many ways, the United States is a lot like Thneedville, particularly in the conspicuous consumption and seeming lack of self-awareness of its citizens. This is not really a new idea. I feel like a story with substance and development needs to accompany it. Otherwise, the message that comes across is, “Never feel happy.” Obviously, happiness is the by-product of one of these three things: 1) Denial and Delusion 2) Oblivious Greed 3) Malicious Greed.
The citizens of Thneedville literally live in a bubble. Planting one Truffula tree is a good start, but it’s not going to produce results very quickly, and it may be too little too late. Face it, Thneedville. The illusion has been shattered, and it’s all downhill from here.
I’m also not sure why the story needed a villain. The villain, Mr. O’Hare (voiced by Rob Riggle) was not a compelling character. He was just an annoying, one-dimensional scapegoat. In real life (at least in the material realm), there’s not some greedy (and physiologically conspicuous) megalomaniac ruining our world with his greed by tricking us all into wanting things that are bad for us.
If the problem is that we’re squandering our resources (i.e., claiming the resources of the entire world as ours and then burning through them) and destroying the Earth, then the villain is every single member of our society. (Please understand, I’m not exculpating big business and heartless millionaires. I’m just saying, this movie presents itself as having a forward thinking sociological, ecological message for today’s children, and then it gives them a villain straight out of a medieval morality play—which might be all right if the other characters were also allegorical. But they’re not. They’re Zac Efron and Taylor Swift, celebrities far too glossy to be Everyman.)
Children don’t need to be taught to scapegoat and ostracize. (That impulse comes naturally.) Getting rid of the bad guy, rebelling against the system, shaking your fist at the jerk in the suit while speeding around on your moped may be a very American impulse, but it does not instantly fix the world’s problems (particularly if despite your rebellion you still want the things that the one evil capitalist in town has been selling you). At least the character of the Once-ler shows that even people with relatively good intentions can still cause harm. But children won’t identify with the Once-ler. They’ll see him as a crazy, old weirdo.
The Once-ler’s story takes far too much time. Ted, the story’s protagonist, spends most of the movie listening, and the story the Once-ler tells fails to explain how all the citizens of Thneedville became so brain-washed and vacant. (He does have a really great song, though.)
And the Lorax himself becomes a very strange character in this version. (If he doesn’t want one single tree cut down, then why does he pass the time by playing cards?)
Most of the time, the jokes aren’t very funny, and the characters seem to be trying too hard. I’d realize, “That was a punch line,” but there was complete silence in the packed theater. Danny DeVito (the Lorax) and Ed Helms (the Once-ler) can both be very funny, but there’s only so much they can do with the material they’re given. Steve Carrell and Amy Poehler managed to be hilarious as the Mayor and his wife in Horton Hears a Who. But most of the time in The Lorax, DeVito and Helms just aren’t funny. You get the idea that certain jokes are supposed to draw big laughs, but they land with deafening thuds instead. Part of the problem is that the premise seems too thin to support a feature length film. The story is weak, so entire scenes feel contrived and forced.
Best Action Sequence:
The bit about putting the Once-ler’s bed into the river makes the Lorax come across as a bit of a loony tune and has little to do with advancing the plot. Nevertheless, it’s one of the most entertaining parts of the movie as all the little animal characters race desperately to prevent disaster. Not only is it the most gripping scene, but the ensuing hijinks drew the biggest laughs of the film from the audience.
Best Surprise:
Ted’s mother has a nice moment near the end of the film that added some depth to her character. (Jenny Slate voices his mother. She’s the former SNL cast member who accidentally said f**k live on the air on her first appearance. The whole time she was on the show, my husband and I thought she looked like the slightly taller, heavier twin of Nasim Pedrad who debuted at the same time. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Nasim Pedrad voices the Once-ler’s mom.) It was no surprise that the Once-ler’s obnoxious mother spoke with a southern accent while Ted’s eventually heroic mom sounded like she was from New York because that’s the way it is in every movie. And I’m not really complaining about that. Art reflects life, I suppose with a sigh. (Or at least, a script reflects the reality of its author.)
Best Scene:
Narratively speaking, the final scene on Ted’s moped feels pretty stale, but the music during the race to plant the seed is fantastic. That’s the scene that made me realize that John Powell has written a wonderful score.
Overall:
The Lorax raises awareness of an important issue that will only become more important for our children. We have wasted our natural resources, and we must begin using the resources that remain more responsibly. If only the movie were more fun to watch!
I can’t imagine ever wanting to watch this movie again. It’s so boring. The little animals look cute, but I think watching clips of the film on youtube would probably be enough for me. Still, the kids seemed to enjoy it (or the first twenty minutes of it, in the case of my three-year-old). Despite the vocal talents of several comedians, The Lorax isn’t very funny. But it is, despite its inadequate story, fun, with eye-popping visuals, catchy songs, and a fantastic score.