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Open Season Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG (for some rude humor, mild action and brief language) Genre: Adventure, Animated, Children, Comedy Theater release: September 24, 2008 by Sony Pictures Animation Directed by: Roger Allers, Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes Cast: Martin Lawrence (Boog), Ashton Kutcher (Elliot), Gary Sinise (Shaw), Debra Messing (Beth), Billy Connolly (McSquizzy) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

Boog (voiced by Martin Lawrence) is a 900-pound grizzly bear happily living in domesticated comfort with Beth, the loving ranger who rescued him as a cub and made him the star of her park wilderness show. Boog enjoys eight square meals a day (not including snacks), and snuggles down with his teddy Dinkelman each night to watch a little TV and drift off to a soft refrain of "Teddy Bear Picnic."

Elliot (voiced with terrific manic energy by Ashton Kutcher) is a scrawny mule deer who has fallen on hard times. Exiled by his herd for general nerdiness, Elliot comes face to grill with the truck of a ruthless hunter named Shaw (Gary Sinise) and ends up tied to the hood. When Shaw parks the truck in town, Elliot turns out to be less dead than previously thought, and convinces Boog to set him free. Boog's kindness is rewarded with no end of trouble, as the pesky deer turns out to be both an annoyance and a bad influence. Elliot plies Boog with chocolate and convinces him to partake in a night of sugar-induced mayhem at the local convenience store, fueling speculation that the bear can no longer safely live in captivity. A heart-broken Beth is forced to relocate Boog and Elliot deep into the forest, three days before hunting season begins.

Boog the grizzly bear, voiced by Martin Lawrence

Nature does not, of course, come naturally to the garage-raised bear, who discovers he has no survival skills at all. Desperate for friendship, Elliot promises to lead Boog home, concealing the fact he has no idea where they are. The two hapless animals endlessly circle the same patch of forest, encountering a variety of wacky and mostly-hostile animals. Veteran Scottish actor Billy Connolly is the voice of McSquizzy, a critter who resides in a state of chronic rage and leads his squirrel army of Braveheart-esque warriors in routine acorn attacks on the protagonists. Patrick Warburton (best-known as Seinfeld's "Puddy") uses his signature baritone to bring Elliot's nemesis to life—a blockheaded bully of a buck named Ian. Other memorable characters include a pair of sassy skunks, two shell-shocked ducks, and a porcupine with a gift for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There are humans in the woods, too. The wonderful Georgia Engle (enduringly known as Mary Tyler Moore's Georgette) is the voice of Bobbie, a loquacious senior citizen who, along with her husband and their dachshund, Mr. Weiner, is searching for Big Foot. And of course there are dozens of hunters, none more vicious or sinister than Sinise's Shaw, who is determined to finish the job on the mule deer who got away and the bear who helped him. It is the threat of the hunters that eventually unites the otherwise factious animals; they, in turn, strike back in a variety of unexpected and amusing ways.

Elliot, a mule deer voice by Ashton Kutcher, gets Boog out into the world

Open Season essentially mines three basic stories, two of which will seem more than a little familiar to viewers who have seen any of the latest spate of CG-animated animal films. The first is the domesticated-animal-out-of-his-element story, featured most recently in Madagascar and The Wild. Open Season mines this premise well, pitting an unsuccessful Boog against salmon skilled in martial arts, and having a lot of fun with his inability to relieve himself in the absence of a hygienic and private toilet. But the sense of déjà vu from the earlier movies is distracting. There are similar difficulties with the second storyline—the odd couple friendship of the hyper and needy but lovable loser (always a small creature) and the good-hearted but often-irritated protagonist (usually something, or someone, big). If reading the last sentence doesn't get you thinking about Ice Age's Sid and Manny, or, more so, Shrek's Donkey and Shrek, trust me, seeing the movie will.

The third plotline is the most original (and most entertaining) element of the movie—the underdog story of the animals turning the tables and hunting the hunters. This material is inventive, exciting and truly funny. Unfortunately, even though this is the part of the movie being promoted in trailers and posters, it constitutes only about the last fifth or sixth of the film.

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