Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

35° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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George proves curiously entertaining

Sometimes you say, ‘Oh, I want to have a monkey,’ and there’s always that one anti-monkey person in the area,” comedian Dane Cook says on his album Retaliation. “They overhear you and they’re like, ‘Excuse me, did I hear you say you wanted a monkey? That’s a horrible idea.”

Judging from the shenanigans of Curious George, the anti-monkey person isn’t wrong. But while owning a monkey may not be a good idea, seeing this movie is.

True, it’s an animated kiddy flick based on books people read when they were 5, but it has enough dry wit to keep the adults entertained while the kids laugh at George’s antics.

The always-hysterical Will Ferrell provides the voice of The Man in the Yellow Hat, a.k.a. “Ted.” Ted is a bone-dry museum curator, the object of the local schoolteacher’s (Drew Barrymore) desire. The teacher brings her class to Ted’s museum every Thursday, where they are bored silly by his lectures.

But because the crowds haven’t been pouring in, elderly museum owner Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke) decides that he’ll have to sell the museum and turn it into a parking garage if he can’t find a new exhibit that will draw the crowds.

Bloomsberry Jr. (drawn to look like David Cross, who lends his voice to the character) is thrilled – for once his father is paying attention to him instead of to Ted.

Of course, Ted isn’t pleased, and he sets off to Africa to find a lost idol. Instead, he finds a monkey whose curiosity would have killed about 100 cats. George is so intrigued by Ted that he sneaks on the ship home and runs amok for the rest of the movie.

The dry, semi-adult bits of humor are not quite along the lines of Shrek, but they work. Jack Johnson’s much-hyped original songs generally work as well, with the exception of one song that implores its listeners to share. Yes, it’s a kids’ movie. Yes, sharing is good. No, you do not need to write a song about it.

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
George proves curiously entertaining