  Over the Hedge
MPAA Rating:
 for some rude humor and mild comic actionReviewed by: Sheri McMurray Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
 Primary Audience:
Kids, Family
Genre:
Comedy, Kids/Family, Animation
Length:
1 hr. 25 min.
Year of Release:
2006
USA Release:
May 19, 2006 (wide)
         Relevant Issues
Should Christians be concerned about the environment? Answer What is man’s responsibility to the environment? Answer 
“Taking back the neighborhood… One snack at a time.”
They all say they’re very excited about this funny, bright and most times hilarious animal romp through suburbia called Over The Hedge. Carell’s five year old daughter thinks her Dad is especially cool now, because he’s the guy who can burp his ABC’s on cue. Willis is taking his kids to see it again in a theater, after the premiere, for that slot of family time. He says it’s really funny and you should see it more than once so as not to miss all those jokes that fly by. Surprisingly palatable comedy too, because Over The Hedge is not really all that “over the top.” Full of wonderful realistic computer animation, Over The Hedge has characters you can relate to and have a fun time with. What modern kid’s animation flick doesn’t have “potty jokes” these days? This one has a few, but they are not as distasteful as many out there and it is kinda funny when a character burps and tinges the air a deep magenta.. Also a surprising enough relief; the skunk doesn’t show her “colors,” which by the way is a predictable puce green, but only once and at a time in the story when it is totally expected. Over The Hedge doesn’t milk every scene for laughs. The humor is natural and the jokes are timed right and not squeezed out or forced on the audience. So, here’s how the hedge leaf falls: R.J. a starving citified Raccoon (voice of Bruce Willis) as well as a brash scavenger, tries to steal the enormous pile of junk food goodies that a big bear named Vincent (voice of Nick Nolte) has hidden away in his cave for his post-hibernation breakfast. As R.J. is in the process of slipping away with a little red wagon full of packaged human snack-e-do’s, the big bear awakes and the wagon rolls out of the cave and onto the high way where the food is destroyed. The furious Vincent gives R.J. one week to replace it all, including the red wagon, or else R.J. will be the breakfast! R.J., very much a loner, needs some help. As he goes on the lookout for assistance he comes across a suburban smorgasbord evidently sprung up over the winter and also trips over some forest creatures just awaking from a long winter’s nap. The smooth talking R.J. soon enlists Verne the turtle (voice of Garry Shandling), a sweet-natured porcupine family headed by Lou (voice of Eugene Levy) and Penny (voice of Catherine O’Hara), a highly excitable squirrel named Hammy (voice of Steve Carrell), a possum dad (voice of William Shatner) and daughter (voice of pop star Avril Lavigne), and an outspoken skunk named Stella (voice of Wanda Sykes). Their familial habitat has been shrunk to next to nothing as they slept over the winter, pushed out by 54 acres of suburban housing, dogs, cats and humans! This band of diverse forest creatures are a “family” waking up from their long hibernation, hungry and totally dumbfounded by the seemingly endless “thing” they have never encountered before—The Hedge. R.J. arrives just as they learn that while they were sleeping, suburbia took over most of their woods. He tells them that this is very good news because people bring FOOD—and not just bark and berries. He introduces them to left over power bars, sparkling caffeine drinks and chocolate chip cookies -- and, despite Verne’s best efforts to persuade them to be cautious, after their first taste of cheesy nacho chips, there’s no turning back. As the story usually goes, R.J. is so intent on getting Vincent back his food supply that he winds up taking advantage of this “family” of naive woodland animals. They become so devoted to him that they nearly get themselves “Verminated” by the local exterminator in order to save R.J.’s neck. But, in the end R.J. comes to their rescue and learns that “Family” is the true gateway to the good life. Rated PG for some rude humor and mild comic action. Over The Hedge is mostly fine viewing for anyone over age 8 and great family fare. By “rude humor” I mean there are references to nakedness when Verne loses his shell and Stella does talk about her “butt” and everyone KNOWS what it’s like when she does that “skunk thing” that all skunks do! Hammy asks if anyone will help him find his nuts (supposedly in reference to foraging for food…). R.J. in describing just how much food lies within the great silver cans in every driveway in suburbia, says these guys will find “food out the wazoo!” This movie will be a good one for families who understand the dry humor of the comic strip and enjoyed the likes of Shrek. I am a sucker for animated animals, more of a sucker for slap stick and am, I gotta admit it, still a kid at heart. God meant for us to laugh. He doesn’t just want us to be happy, but He wants us to go that step further and be filled with joy. The light hearted antics in Over The Hedge might just get your family that much closer. “Rejoice! And again I say…Rejoice!” Violence: Minor / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None  Positive
Positive - My husband and I took our children to see this movie. We all enjoyed it. There wasn’t anything crude or obnoxious. There’s a good lesson about trusting your gut instincts and waiting vs. jumping into something because it sounds good. There were a few situations that will be a good chance for parents to discuss with young children about bullying and being bullied, stealing, and lying. These situations in this movie are not offensive, just worth mentioning. Our children understood the context and we didn’t have to explain. There is also an obnoxious human that places her validity in materialistic things and “who” she is, that is also taken care of. Overall, we enjoyed this movie. Positive - …I thought it was over all morally speaking: “GOOD” it was funny, it was imaginative, and very creative. The jokes were fresh, the acting was better then average, and kids will LOVE it! Throughout the time I was in the theatre enjoying my popcorn and my mega soft drink, I couldn’t help thinking that the voice behind “RJ” (the Racoon) was non other than Bruce Willis. Aside from the Filmmaking Qualities, the reason why this movie was PG was because of some mild crude humor. There was no cussing but belching loudly and passing gas, were a pretty much all of the inappropriate situations involved in this movie. Overall I’d give this movie 4 ½ stars!!! Positive - My 11 year old daughter and I went to see the film last night. I mainly went as an “alternative protest” to “DVC” released also today. Our theatre somehow mixed up the reels and part of the film was shown out of sequence but we still enjoyed it!! It was cute, the characters were likable and the overall message of “family” helping each other, etc. came through. It was one of the least offensive cartoon movies that I have seen in awhile. I did not detect any swear words, the only things I noticed that could be considered “crude” were: 1. The turtle character’s shell came off and you could see his green bottom, 2 girls in the film commented on it, when he stood up and realized his shell was off he covered his front part (but there was nothing there to cover)..I actually saw that as a positive thing, he was being modest!!! 2. 2 or (or 3 times I think) the squirrel character mentioned something about “his nuts” …I heard adults near me laugh… it could be taken in a crude way or not I guess depending on your mind set — later he showed a hollow log he had stored nuts in so I think that is what kids would think about it. That is all I picked up, and for a movie these days that is mild!! The only “romantic” relationship was a female skunk that they covered with coal to pass as a cat and had her talk with the male cat of the house the There was some mild violence when the exterminator tried to get the animals but none were killed, etc. It was a fun flick, my daughter and I both love animals so I enjoyed seeing how they were portrayed, especially the baby porcupines!! Usually I try to read this site, draw some sort of message to talk over with my daughter about, and you probably could do it with this—she was so interested though in seeing a film out of sequence that that is all she wanted to talk about afterwards!!! Positive - All I can say is WOW - I spent the entire length of the movie in stitches. The characters were wonderful and humorous, and the plot was alive, interesting, and intriguing. I would go see this movie again in a minute! The only objectionable content that I noticed were a couple of crude jokes by the squirrel about his “nuts” (eliciting laughter from the adults and teenagers in the theatre), and a bit of silly romantic humor between the skunk and the cat - but nothing that would be so wrong as to stop you from taking your kids to enjoy this great movie! Any “rude humor” that is in the movie would likely go right over any child’s head. This was a wonderful movie, and one that I would definitely recommend to add to your DVD collection as soon as it is available! Positive - Overall this movie was very entertaining. I laughed out loud many times, and that’s really rare for me. There were good messages of working together, friendship and loyalty. It also showed the shortcomings of jumping into line with the latest and the greatest loud mouth that comes along. There was a point that I assumed we were going to get another movie about animal rights. I recall turning to my wife and saying, “Yep, here we go.” Fortunately that was not an over-riding theme. There was a lot of stealing going on and attempts to justify it. I guess if a person wants to put a positive spin on that, God often times feeds animals by the ignorance of the people around them. Bears are simply being bears, not guided by a concept of the moral law but living by the instinct that God has given them. Bears will get your food if you don’t take precautions to prevent it. Animals will get into your trash, it’s what they do. Unfortunately, reality says that the humanizing of cartoon characters takes the message out of the realm of instinct and places it in the realm of reason and moral law. As such, kids might get the message that as long as it’s for a good cause, stealing is fine. It goes to the age old question, if your family is starving, is it wrong to steal a loaf of bread. For the Christian, yes, it is wrong, God will provide. For the world around us we need merely look at the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans to see what most people think. Positive - I took my wife and two boys to this movie. We not only enjoyed the movie, we found ourselves laughing for days after we saw it. I have seen numerous animated movies with my young children, but I can not remember a time that I have found myself laughing this hard this many times. What was even more enjoyable was the fact that I wasnt the only one laughing that hard. My family and the entire theater were laughing with great delight. I would definitely recommend this movie and know that we will be adding it to our movie collection. Positive - This movie was wonderful. I read the negative comments, but honestly cannot identify with any of them. This movie is full of positive messages. The animals took food from the humans, but only because they were being forced to. Upon emerging from hibernation they found that the area in which they lived was shrinking—being replaced by subdivisions, and there was little food. This is what animals, especially raccoons, do in real life! RJ, the raccoon is the more “peoplewise” of the creatures and leads the naive foragers into pillaging the humans. Though he is selfish, he eventually turns around, because he loves his new friends. There is nothing in the least inappropriate in the scene with the skunk. The little skunk talks to the cat, and they get to know each other—very sweet! My favorite part of this film is Hammy, a sweet little hyper squirrel. All the characters are adorable and make you want to pinch them, but Hammy is just a lovebug. He is the reason I had to go again to see the film with my eight year old little boy who missed it the first time we went. Hammy is hyperactive and isn’t allowed by RJ to have soda—“The last thing you need, my friend, is caffeine.” My little boy is also energetic and this made him laugh, and also feel a bit better about times he isn’t allowed to have soda. I really recommend this movie, I know your family will love it as much as we did. Neutral
Neutral - …a very family friendly movie. Positive - This was a wonderful movie on a number of levels. Our 12 and 10 year old loved the story. My wife and I had tears from the laughter. The scene with the whole dog/grill/chase/explosion was the best. The movie had numerous good moral messages. The most convicting was the whole impression of the suburbs and how we live. It held a mirror to just how self centered and spoiled we have become. RJ has a great comment on life in the suburbs. Listen also to the end credits song, Rock’in the Suburbs. As a Christian, hopefully it will jar many into reconsidering what our purpose really is on this earth. The second issue is that enough is never enough. RJ and the rest could not stop feeding their desires/addictions once they got started. Were they really any happier now that they were consumed by their wants? Look what they were willing to risk for one more item. I took a different perspective from a prior post regarding the family issue. I looked at this from a church perspective in that we in the church are all one family. I saw this little band of animals as a small church. They communed with one another and sadly were misled by a con-man who distracted their focus. But they held together as a family, returning to their primary focus in the end. In fact they even convinced others to join them. Hopefully, it is not too much of a stretch, but in the church we follow the same path, we are family, care for each other and at times are misled in our congregations. However, we hang together and get it right with God’s help. Lastly, the message that those around us will bring out the best in us. This happened repeatedly in the story, the most prominent was the transformation of the skunk. There have been some great family movies this year, this is one of them. By the way, stick around through all of the credits, there is a great post script to the movie right at the end. Negative
Negative - …I just got home from seeing Over The Hedge with my daughter and my sister. I was shocked at how Hollywood used a film geared towards younger audiences as political propaganda. Animals in this film were portrayed as loving, caring, and in my opinion superior to humans. Humans were demonized for building a development of homes in a wooded area. It seemed as though the Earth Liberation Front endorsed this segment! The human family was portrayed as being greedy, socially irresponsible, cruel and uncaring. Wow, the humans were seen gathered around a table with heads bowed in prayer. The animals explained that they were “worshiping around the altar of food.” One line I remember was that “We (the animals) eat to live, whereas the humans live to eat,” thus labeling humans as gluttons. The animals saw a vehicle, and it was explained to them that it was “an SUV” when the question arose as to how many humans travel together in this large vehicle, the answer was…“usually one.” So, humans again were bashed for being environmentally careless. I couldn’t help but wonder, does Bruce Willis not drive a vehicle, and own a home?? I’ve come to the conclusion that the Hollywood elite like to condemn us for what we think and do, and somehow they are untouchable and beyond the frey. All in all this was a disturbing, transparent attempt to steer young minds onto the liberal, paganistic, earth-worshipping track of thought that has apparently got a stronghold in the hearts and minds of the Hollywood crowd. Do yourself a favor and rent a good uplifting Christian movie for your family. Negative - I took my 2 sons to see this movie and was disappointed. The bear was pretty fierce and threatened repeatedly to kill the racoon, using that word several times. Desensitization begins early! The humans were portrayed as stupid and mean, while the animals were smart and lovable. God defines family as a husband, wife and children. This movie reinforces the current cultural propaganda that a family is made up of whoever moves into the house. There were several mild expletives, but then, curse words are curse words, no matter how mild. It could have been a good movie, but was ruined by pushing the line too far. We won’t see it again. Negative - My entire family did not enjoy the movie at all. We were very disappointed with the crude comments and the minimal values displayed. Negative -…we took our family to see this film. The beginning of this movie is VERY offensive. The part with the bear and raccoon is overdone and the bear, in a scary way, threatens to kill the raccoon…more than once. The animal children become disrespectful to their parents, The raccoon repeatedly shows and instills greed in the other animals (except the turtle). The exterminator goes unpunished for knowingly selling something illegal. The movie does talk about the importance of family, but it’s more of a “worldly” village mentality than a Biblical perspective. They use one of the female animals to seduce another animal and I can never recall the movie saying it was wrong to steal all of the stuff they did…again except the turtle…but then at the end of the movie he apologizes for ever trying to return the loot! For an adult, this was probably a funny movie, but not for the family. Negative - Overall the movie was entertaining and our 5 and 8 year old boys very much enjoyed the movie. There is one aspect of the movie though that really bothers me, and if I had known about this I would have thought twice about watching this in the theaters (in a home setting on DVD it’s easier to talk about moral aspects). I’m actually surprised that nobody else mentioned this. (Warning: there may be some spoilers in this review.) The movie is based on the premise of the animals stealing. First, the main character steals from the bear. Then he needs to replace the stolen food so he starts stealing from humans. He eventually gets a “family” of animals to all steal for him. At first it seems innocent enough - the main character needs to steal to save his life, and the animals need to steal to get food. But the animals steal all kinds of things - TV’s, video games, recliner chairs, etc. - and all enjoy the benefits. The closest the movie ever gets to having any character feel any sense of remorse is the turtle trying to bring all the things back to “get things back to the way they were” and avoid the humans trying to hunt down the animals. But even this isn’t remorse. And all the other animals were very upset of the attempt and all sided with continued stealing. Negative - This movie is subtle seed planting by anti-Christians. Go to the official site for the movie and watch the clips you may have missed at the theatre. Did you all miss the following? Comments from young people
Positive - What a hysterical movie. I love movies like this, and I took my little brother to go see it. Both of us (including many other teens and adults in the theater) were CRACKING up. Just a great clean family friendly movie that everyone can laugh at. Positive - I thought this film would be very silly. But, in the end I had so much fun watching it. I laughed through the whole movie! It’s based on very good character. It teaches us that family is very important. Positive - I went to see this movie with a younger sister and a group of her friends. We all loved the movie. There was absolutely nothing bad or offensive in it, and it was just plain funny! I might not recommend parents to bring kids age five or under, as there were a few scenes with a bear threatening to eat the animals that might frighten them. But I would definitely say that any one from older children up will have a terrific time at this squeaky clean movie. Positive - Ok, I saw this with my friend, and it was wonderful! It was hilarious, and I caught no weird meanings of sex, or anything else! It was a GOOD CLEAN MOVIE!!! I loved it, and I am almost 13! Reminded me of Madagascar! Bring your kids! if you wanna see a good wholesome family movie! Positive - The movie was great! there was nothing wrong with it. The cast was funny. The best two was Hammy and R.J. It had a good storyline. Me and my Brother went to go see it with my dad. But there was this one part where it was rude, but other than that, the movie was clean. Positive - I went to see this movie with my Mom and my sister and we enjoyed it. Positive - This movie was awesome! I saw it with my mom, dad, and two younger sisters. The movie didn’t have a lot of moral, but it didn’t have nearly anything bad in it. It was just a normal story filled with good humor and fun! I recommend to go see it. Positive - At first,I thought this movie would be lame, but I found it was wonderful! I thought it was very clean, unlike most movies I’ve seen lately. Hammy the squirrel is very funny! I love how important family is in this movie. There are a few crude comments, but they are tame. This movie is very cute and funny, even for older kids! Please,don’t miss Over the Hedge! Positive - Excellent movie—went with my dad. Funny. For the mom who was freaking out because of the bear. FYI bears eat raccoons GET OVER IT (he doesn’t eat the racoon in the movie). And the way they portrayed the family was good. The family is a pack of animals, not husband, wife, son… I was not offended by that part of the movie.… Positive - Well this movie is super funny, I recommend to every body. It doesn’t have violence; it is a kids movie. It is funny to the max; if you need a laugh see this movie.… Positive - An extremely enjoyable movie. Great animation, exaggeration, etc.… Overall, it’s the best out of Dreamworks, I think. Positive - I laughed myself to tears when I saw this movie. My expectations weren’t too high, after all, it is a cartoon, but after I saw it I proclaimed to my friend that it was the best cartoon I’d seen in forever. She promptly agreed. The movie has humor for both kids (only a few seats down three eight year olds were rolling on the floor, literally, laughing) and teenagers (speaking for myself and my friend. I’m sure that adults will enjoy it, also. The film has good messages and good, clean comedy. There was absolutely nothing offensive, and I recommend it to ALL ages. Positive - Wow, this was not the greatest movie, but there should not be a single negative comment here. I read one person said there was a voodoo doll in RJ’s bag when it was just a Troll doll. I do not think anything in this movie was a mockery of the Lord. The animals stole but come on they are ANIMALS, not people.… Positive - I saw this movie with two 11 year olds, one ten year old, one nine year old, and even a 5 year old. We had a lot of fun, and didn’t find anything too offensive. We still repeat lines from this movie, as we found it absolutely hilarious! I would definitely recommend this as a family film. Positive - This was a good, fun film. The message is that enough, IS enough. We don’t need a million different possessions. Over the Hedge was fun and entertaining, it wasn’t as good as Shrek or Wallace and Gromit, but it was good. There was nothing morally offensive in it, I really think people on this site sometimes try too hard to find something inappropriate about a movie. Check Over the Hedge out with your kids, and you’ll have a good time. Positive - This movie was great! Very cute and fun to watch! I loved all of the characters, and especially how they forgave one another and helped each other in spite of their differences or mistakes. I would recommend this for anyone of any age. It was SO worth seeing in theaters. Negative - Although it was funny, humorous, cute, entertaining, and the raccoon found a family, there was bad stuff. I did not like that the raccoon was very greedy. The raccoon lied to his fellow animals to get them to steal from the humans so that he could repay the bear. The raccoon almost got the other animals killed while they stole food and other things. I also didn’t like that the raccoon didn’t do any of the stealing—rather he made the others steal. I was infuriated when the raccoon said we worship food. This is not a Christian movie!!! |
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