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Film Search
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There’s an edge to the source material, Adam Rex’s book The True Meaning of Smekday, in which alien invasion becomes an allegory for colonialism, with humans sent to Florida’s “Happy Mouse Kingdom.” Don’t expect any such material in this shapeless animated silliness, in which the Boov take over Earth after being chased from their homeworld by the powerful Gorg, and an outcast Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons) winds up accompanying a tween-age human girl named Tip (Rihanna) on a journey to find her mother. Home has no interest in dealing with the tricky moral material of claiming dominion over an inhabited region, which is perhaps to be expected. But all that remains is a tired mismatched buddy comedy about friendship and family and other easily digestible notions, predicated on finding Parsons’ perpetual malapropisms hilarious. There’s some effective visual humor—the aliens collect items they find worthless in hovering balls of garbage, leading to, e.g., a massive sphere of accordions floating over Paris—and fine voice work by Steve Martin as the narcissistic Boov leader. In general, though, limp family movies like this belong somewhere in a hovering airborne ball.
Official Site: www.meettheboov.com
Director: Tim Johnson
Producer: Mireille Soria, Suzanne Buirgy and Chris Jenkins
Cast: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones, Brian Stepanek, April Lawrence, Stephen Kearin, Lisa Stewart and April Winchell
Director: Tim Johnson
Producer: Mireille Soria, Suzanne Buirgy and Chris Jenkins
Cast: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones, Brian Stepanek, April Lawrence, Stephen Kearin, Lisa Stewart and April Winchell
