MOVIE REVIEW: HOME

Shane | 20 March 2015 | Reply

MOVIE REVIEW: HOME
Directed by Tim Johnson
Starring Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7 ½ /10

This effervescent family comedy turns the alien invasion trope on its head with its sheer inventiveness and charm.

The Boov – an alien race simple on smarts but technologically advanced – are on the run from the fearsome Gorg, and take over Earth quickly and relatively quietly not with force and destruction, as is often the norm, but by simply relocating them to huge estates built in the middle of the Australian outback, thinking they are doing our race a favour before they move into our houses and apartments.

Boov Oh, voiced by Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons and played with a similar naivette to that show’s Dr Sheldon Cooper, though far more emotively, isn’t popular amongst his kind, his friendliness and quirkyness are as odd to them as their colour-changing form is to us.

After one too many mistakes, Oh is declared persona non grata but escapes and, whilst on the run, bumps into young Tip (Rihanna), a girl who the relocation machines missed and is searching desperately for her missing mother (Jennifer Lopez), and despite initial distrust from Tip, the two buddy up and eventually come to rely on each other as they learn the lesson of what makes a Home and a friend.

The themes of friendly but socially inept alien invaders is well played – especially the slapstick screwball leader, Captain Smeck (Steve Martin) as is the arrival of The Gorg, who prove that appearances can be deceptive – both physically, and in making assumptions about the reasons for someone’s dislike of us. Sometimes simple actions can have grave consequences we never realised.

The sheer bubbliness of Home and its colourful animation make it a great family movie for ages to watch together, with plenty of laughs on offer and a feel-good message to make the youngsters feel complete.