Imagine Gordon Gekko merging with toddler Stewie Griffin and you have The Boss Baby. This retro-vibed DreamWorks feature about a 7-year-old boy named Tim, grappling with the unwelcome arrival of a baby brother, is like so many other high-concept, computer-animated comedies these days: clever and funny, but lacking in an emotionally accessible storyline. The film takes a tummy-tickling concept – the literal infantilization of selfish and demanding adult behavior – and attaches fantastic plot threads until its satiric edge is dulled by 10-gags-a-minute pacing and goo-goo-gaga gooeyness. At first, you’re led to think that the film’s downsized tyke-in-chief may be the product of Tim’s overactive imagination. Maybe the far-fetched narrative is something playing out inside the young boy’s head as he attempts to cope with his new brother, similar to the pre-adolescent internalizations of The LEGO Movie and Inside Out. But no: it’s all literal. Without something substantial to hold on to, the movie’s chubby little fingers lose their grip on the possibility of something to remember after the credits roll.
Opened 03/31/17