Weekend Film Reviews
Cedar Rapids; Gnomeo and Juliet
The main thing about Cedar Rapids is that it makes you laugh -- often and out loud. At the same time, this tale of a dweeb's belated entry into the real world can make you uneasy, because it keeps wandering from gleeful comedy to glib condescension and then back again... Garden gnomes may not bring Graham Greene instantly to mind, but Greene's distinction between his more serious works and the ones he called "entertainments" may be useful all the same. Gnomeo & Juliet doesn't pretend to any kind of seriousness... This new little animated feature from Disney is just an entertainment, an animated doodad in the grand scheme of things...
By Joe Morgenstern • • 3m ListenThe main thing about Cedar Rapids is that it makes you laugh -- often and out loud. At the same time, this tale of a dweeb's belated entry into the real world can make you uneasy, because it keeps wandering from gleeful comedy to glib condescension and then back again...
Garden gnomes may not bring Graham Greene instantly to mind, but Greene's distinction between his more serious works and the ones he called "entertainments" may be useful all the same. Gnomeo & Juliet doesn't pretend to any kind of seriousness... This new little animated feature from Disney is just an entertainment, an animated doodad in the grand scheme of things...