FRED Watch Quickie Film Review: Home (2015)
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME…
I’m a Fulya Kantarmaci and welcome to FRED Watch, where we review everything from the mainstream to the obscure. Today’s film is Home…
DreamWorks Animation / 20th Century Fox
A young girl reluctantly becomes friends with a fugitive Boov alien. They go on an adventure to find her mother who has been relocated by the Boov during their “invasion.” What could possibly go wrong?
This comedic sci-fi adventure film is loosely based on Adam Rex’s book The True Meaning of Smekday. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, Home is about an alien race called the Boov, who are running away from other aliens, the terrifying Gorg. While on the run, the leader of the Boov, Captain Smek (Steve Martin), discovers Earth as a suitable planet to call their new home after the Gorg had found and destroyed their previous home planet. Let the Boov moving day commence!
One particular Boov, affectionately named Oh (Jim Parsons), is very excited about moving day. In fact, he is so excited that he plans to throw a “warming of house” party and sends an invitation to his fellow Boov friends via email. Unfortunately, he accidentally presses the send-to-all button which means every alien race in the universe receives an invite. Because of this mistake, Oh is chased down by the Boov for revealing their location to the Gorg. He then runs into a convenience store to hide; little did he know that there was a “humans person” (as the Boov call them) who also walked into the same convenience store to grab supplies for her trip to find her mother. Tip Tucci (Rihanna) discovers Oh and is quick to shove him inside a fridge and trap him there. They both argue, at the expense of Tip’s hatred for the Boov who abducted her mum. Oh tries to entice Tip to let him out of the fridge so he can repair her car. Tip reluctantly decides to let him out on the condition that Oh helps her find her mum. And thus the adventure begins…
The film takes you on a journey about family and friendship and it is such a heart-warming story. From their cute, almost octopus-like appearance to their nonsensical way of speaking English, the Boov will make you smile right to the end of the film. I’d have to say that the Boov is one of my favourite alien races in the animated world. Yes, it’s because of the way they speak! Jim Parsons does an outstanding job in voicing Oh and in a way, you can kind of see Jim in Oh. He also has this innocent and excited quality in his voice which made him the perfect person to voice the lead character. Steve Martin brings a hilariousness to Smek that I absolutely love and he shows off his talented comedy skills through his voice. Rihanna is a surprising addition to the cast, however, she also does an amazing job with voicing Tip. Her voice is unique enough that you can’t tell it is voiced by an adult.
The soundtrack is great too! My favourite tracks are ‘Towards the Sun’ by Rihanna and ‘Feel the Light’ by Jennifer Lopez. Both powerful ballads really hit you in the feels. Speaking of feels, the one scene from this movie that never ceases to make me well up in tears is towards the end and THAT is when the song ‘Towards the Sun’ starts to play. It is such a heartbreaking moment that you can’t help but feel sad. Very moving.
Overall, Home is a lot of fun to watch and it really does have a great meaning behind it. I definitely recommend it for your next family movie night.
And remember, the Boov are the “best species ever at running away.” 4 / 5
Starring: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones.
Director: Tim Johnson | Writers: Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember (based on The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex) | Producers: Mireille Soria, Chris Jenkins, Suzanne Buirgy | Music: Lorne Balfe | Editor: Nick Fletcher
Available: DVD.
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