A Town Called Panic

[2.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)

Maybe it's me. Netflix again predicts I'll adore a movie. In this case, "based on your interest in Annie Hall, Being John Malkovich and The Big Lebowski". I liked those movies a lot, still do, but this one not so much.

It is stop-motion animation, with plastic figurine characters acting in imaginative surroundings. (Also: they speak French, albeit with English subtitles.) The primary characters are "Cowboy", "Indian", and "Horse". Cowboy and Indian want to build a barbecue pit for Horse's birthday; unfortunately, a stuck zero on their computer's keyboard causes them to buy 50 million bricks instead of the desired 50. This sets off a chain of bizarre adventures.

Normally, I don't mind "bizarre". But in this case, it seems that the script was co-written by a four-year-old who may have gotten into the family Chardonnay. Imagination is great, but you have to make me care, at least a little; that didn't happen here.

I could be wrong: this guy at the Kansas City Star says that the movie "at first smacks of childlike chaos" Agreed. But also claims it eventually "segues into subversive sophistication." If so, I missed it. I'm more like this guy at the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "I watched "A Town Called Panic" without the assistance of any controlled substances, and that might be why I hated it."

One neat thing: little homages to other animated features, like Wall·E and Finding Nemo. But they made me wish I was watching those instead.


Last Modified 2024-01-30 1:17 PM EDT