Friday, September 2, 2016

The Secret Life of Pets

DIRECTOR:  Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney  LEAD CAST:  Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper  SCREENWRITER: Bryan Lynch, Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio  PRODUCER: Chris Meledandri and Janet Healey  EDITOR: Ken Schretzmann  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Alexandre Desplat  GENRE: Comedy/Animation  DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures  LOCATION: United States  RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes
Technical assessment:  3
Moral assessment:  3
CINEMA rating:  PG 13
The only regret of Max (voiced by Louis C. K.), a pampered Terrier of New York City career girl Katie (voiced by Elli Kemper), is that Katie’s work keeps her away too long from him.  Left alone in the apartment, Max fills his day by associating with the neighbors’ pets, including the fluffy Pomeranian next door who has a secret crush on him—Gidget (voiced by Jenny Slate).  When their owners are away, these animals amuse themselves in ways known only to them.  Max’s happy-go-lucky days come to an end when Katie brings home from the dog pound the huge and shaggy Duke (voiced by Eric Stonestreet).  Rebuffed by Max, Dukes stops trying to be friendly; soon their rivalry lead them to one comic misadventure after another as they encounter all sorts of mean, wild, and abandoned animals coming out from their hideaways in the city.
The secret life of pets can’t help but remind movie-goers of the delightful Toy Story (1995), which is about what toys do in the absence of their human owners.  The CGI rendering of the New York skyline and landscape—magically colorful by day and aglow with otherworldly lights at night—combined with the almost human characterization of the animals redeem the sketchy and somewhat  inconsequential plot.  In an effort to make the movie live up to its title and please its target audience, directors Renaud and Chenney focus on the clandestine, supposedly exciting exploits of the animals.  Much of the movie shows the pets running away from the clutches of the city’s undomesticated animals while dodging the nets of the pound officers, turning the movie into a protracted chase scene.
While the movie may visually appeal to younger audiences, there are precious messages for adult humans issuing from the mouths of the non-human characters.  For one, it subtly reminds parents how to sensitively deal with an only child when bringing home a new sibling.  It also ought to teach parents to be more present to their children—if pets can become lonely and get into trouble due to separation from their owners, how much more the children left alone at home while parents are out working?  The cooperation among the animals rescuing their missing friends also demonstrates what good teamwork can do.   While The Secret Life of Pets tells a comforting story, parents should not forget that there is such a thing as cartoon violence.  On the day CINEMA watched the movie, a very small child cried inconsolably when a snake opened its mouth to strike a small animal, revealing life-threatening fangs.  She cried so much and so loudly that her father had to take her out of the theater to calm her down, only to be terrified again when another helpless pet’s life was endangered in the chase.