I’m a sucker for anything with a bear in it. If I had my way, I’d own every Teddy Bear in the state of Virginia and beyond. I just love bears! So does my grandson. When he saw the previews for “Open Season” on television, he ran upstairs to grab his beloved Teddy and came back down to emphatically inform me that he and Teddy wanted to see this movie. I smiled and agreed, pretending all the while that we would be going just for the two of them.
“Open Season” is the story of a domesticated bear named Boog (voiced with hilarity by Martin Lawrence) who lives in the garage of his adopted mother, a park ranger and animal enthusiast named Beth (voiced with perfect appeal by “Will & Grace” star Debra Messing). The two are pretty much inseparable. Neither can imagine a life without the other one in it. Still, in her heart Beth knows that one day Boog will have to learn how to get along in the wild. All she can think about is “today is not that day.”
Boog and Beth make extra spending money by putting on a show for the towns folk and tourists of the small town where they live, Timberline. One day, after their usual show, Beth sees the pickup of a notorious poacher. On the front of his vehicle he has strapped a buck that she believes to be dead. Angry that, once again, Shaw (voiced with mean glee by Gary Sinise) has broken the law and killed an animal before hunting season begins, she rushes to confront him. In the mean time, Boog is lazily lounging in the back of her jeep enjoying the sun and basking in the rays of his latest audience appearance.
Suddenly, the buck – – named Elliott (voiced by the very funny Ashton Kutcher) opens his eyes and realizes that he has been caught. He begs Boog to cut him loose, which he eventually does. Then, unbeknownst to him, Elliott follows Boog home where he watches as Beth tucks the bear into his nice soft bed and sings him a lullaby – – The Teddy Bear Picnic song. After Beth leaves, he sneaks in to convince Boog that is time for him to leave his cushy life and try the wild. Of course, the wild he has in mind isn’t exactly the woods.
The two of them end up breaking into the Timberline General Store to get some Nummy candy bars. While they are there, they try a few other treats and end up trashing the store in a made sugar rush. This adventure lands Boog in big trouble with Beth who decides it is finally time to release him into the wild. While he is still asleep she puts him on the helicopter and drops him and Elliott off in the woods. What follows is a series of adventures as the two new friends try to find their way back to Timberline and Beth.
As the Boog and Elliott try to find their way home they, of course, meet other wild animals and end up creating all kinds of havoc for squirrels, beavers, and skunks alike. They also end up having to run from the hunters, since hunting season has just begun. This is where the movie really takes off and becomes a lot of fun.
Although the film is primarily geared toward children, it does manage to convey some important themes. By exploring the animals versus hunters, it shows an obvious pro-animal and pro-environment stance. The various skirmishes that result from meeting other animals in the wild conveys the importance of allowing others to be who they are as well as the value of accepting those differences. The ending of the film stresses the importance of teamwork as well as the importance of friendship.
Overall, this is a pretty good story. The screenplay was adapted from an original story by Steve Moore and John Carls. The screenplay writers Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Nat Mauldin manage to get across some important points without losing the credibility of the movie. Considering the short amount of time – – 86 minutes – – they have to introduce and develop so many characters; they do a fine job. But it would have been nice if they could have further explored how Beth became Boog’s keeper and how that dove tailed into her job as a park ranger.
Directors Roger Allers and Jill Culton also do a credible job in developing the voice talent. Messing is delightful, if a bit underused, as Beth. Martin Lawrence, as Boog, and Ashton Kutcher, as Elliott, are amazingly funny and captivating. Gary Sinese as the evil hunter Shaw is properly villainous. However, Billy Connelly and McSquizzy, the squirrel with attitude, come dangerously close to stealing the show. Jon Favreau, as the perfectionist beaver, is also hilarious. I really didn’t get into a few of the characters, however. They just seem to come across as extraneous components and don’t bring that much to the story. These include a machismo deer (voiced by Patrick Warburton), and an older camping couple and their dog (voice by Georgia Engel, Gordon Tootoosis, and Cody Cameron respectively).
“Open Season” is from Columbia Pictures in conjunction with Sony Pictures Animation. It carries a PG rating for some mature references, including rude humor and mild violence..
