'The Willoughbys'-You'll Forget It Exists After Seeing It
I suppose I should be happy that I at least didn't have to pay a full $20 price in a theatre to go see "The Willoughbys." There's nothing special to say about this movie other than it being shot like a 2D animated film with a mix of CG that comes off like a Dollar Tree Tim Burton knock off or if "The Lego Movie" was far from awesome. "Willoughbys" has the same story you'd find in "An American Tale" or any other kids flick about orphans wanting a family. The characters are lonely; they make some friends along their journey, they end up with a family who's not perfect but are happy together in the end. Don't worry; I didn't give away the ending because you'll know how this movie will end right out of the gate anyway. With Ricky Gervais's Cat character thinking, he's subverting your expectations, the truth of the matter is the film is far less intelligent than it believes itself to be.
If you've seen one children's film about neglectful parents, then you've seen this one. Tim Willoughby (Will Forte) is the son of two parents who come from a proud generation of homeowners. Their murals are plastered all over the wall of the estate with their distinct long Civil War-era mustaches. His siblings Jane (Alessia Cara) and Twin Brothers Barnaby A & B (Seán Cullen) seem entirely nonexistent to their guardians, who are too enamored with each other to care one iota for their children. Hatching a plan to get rid of his folks, Tim sends the two off on an indefinite vacation to a tropical paradise. Before departing, Mother (Jane Krakowski) and Father (Martin Short) assign a Nanny (Maya Rudolph) to monitor the children. I suppose the film is different in where the Nanny profoundly cares for the young ones, unlike most movies, oh wait; there's "Marry Poppins." I'm trying to find a single factor that would make me be able to pick "The Willoughbys" out of a crowd, but I simply can't.
Not a single joke is original, nor a specific character is unique. Every plot point was foreseeably dull. The plot is self-conscious with how comedically convenient it is, yet I was more bored than amused by its fourth wall breaking lack of appeal. If it weren't for the short running time, I'd probably have committed the cardinal sin of checking my phone. I'm not in a theatre anyway, so I might as well since those will likely be nonexistent after the Corona apocalypse. I wanted to enjoy Maya Rudolph's Nanny character. Still, I couldn't because the movie was trying so very hard for the audience to like her at every given opportunity where I wanted to vomit my Lucky Charms puke all over the film's contrasty landscape. You know, because it needs to be extra bright to remind you that it's a kid's film.
If there were a single character I could remember, it might be Terry Crews' who plays like Willy Wonka if he was a nice guy. It's a shame that so much time was put into painstakingly animating such a faceless script. Seeing as this wasn't slated to be a theatrical film and seems to be trending moderately on Netflix, my critique won't matter much. The picture already stands at 88% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes with a 70% audience approval rating; I'm mathematically rendered as a curmudgeon cynic. With the world coming to an end, I honestly don't care if you think I'm a jerk for not liking this film. If you want to see a decent animated picture on Netflix, there's "Klause." If you need more cartoons for your family to see while locked in, there's Disney Plus that's loaded with classics from all eras. You can do far better than what is essentially the type of drool Dreamworks Animation has been churning out of their factory for years with the exception of a few golden nuggets. Like the neglectful parents in the movie, you'll forget about "The Willoughbys" right after you see it. You'll also probably agree that you'll forget about this review right after you read it.
