Another Movie Review

On Sunday my parents arrived for a visit - both parents, together, in a rather dramatic swing of the pendulum. But more on that later perhaps. My mom had wanted us all to go to the Big Mo drive-in again, this time to see WALL-E, so as soon as they arrived, we all went to get some dinner, then on to the drive-in. Last time we went, we waited in a line of cars for about thirty minutes just to get in, and the movies were beginning to sell out, so this time we arrived about an hour and a half early, only to discover that it wasn't nearly so busy this time. But the kids played on the playground, mostly happily, and the adults talked and took turns chasing and playing with the very active little boys until the movie began. Right before it started, a truck pulled up next to us, the inhabitants of which were not too considerate of their fellow patrons. They noisily prepared their snacks and drinks, with the truck doors open so that they and everyone else could see, and then once they were finally settled, the mom lit up the first of an endless chain of cigarettes. The fact that my senses were being constantly assaulted with the wafting smoke no doubt affected my perception of the rest of the evening, the movie included, so I suppose you can take the following with a grain of salt.



WALL-E the robot was certainly cute, and the kids were not disappointed. They didn't seem to mind the fact that the dialogue was non-existent for the first 10 or 15 minutes and that thereafter it consisted mostly of the robotic chanting of his name. I didn't mind that, either, but I was on my guard from the start, when it appeared the movie was heavily weighted with an environmental message. It's not that I'm a proponent of trashing the planet - I try to recycle and to be a good steward of the earth all the way around - but at the movies, I dislike the ploy of having my emotions toward a story drawn into and intertwined with someone else's political opinions. I mind it slightly less in grown-up movies (as in The Day After Tomorrow), because then I can usually disregard the attempt at exciting my real-life fears, but that is not always so easy in a children's movie. In this case, I had visions of one or more of my children lecturing me about throwing anything away. And since we apparently have a definite thread of OCD here, I could also see little people fretting entire days (and nights) away as they imagined towers of trash and the necessity of leaving Earth. But fortunately it seemed WALL-E's deeper message went over their heads this time, and they seemed to enjoy the "love" story between the robot and and the droid, which was indeed sweet. In short, it wasn't my favorite movie - give me something like Toy Story! - but it was entertaining and sharply done. Three stars?