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Film Review
Sweeter than honey
‘Bee Movie’ combines wit with social justice
In the decade Jerry Seinfeld reigned as the king of the sitcom, he joked about everything — except maybe insects. It seems that the comedian saved all the witty humor related to the small creatures of the world for his latest project.
“Bee Movie” (DreamWorks Animation) is the fruit of years of Seinfeld’s labor — he wrote the computer-animated feature — and the jokes in “Bee Movie” were worth waiting for.
The hilarious, yet sweet film is a sure crowd pleaser with — like so many other computer-animated films — something for the whole family. The constant stream of clever one liners will keep adults doubled over laughing while kids learn a little bit about bees and perhaps a bit more about the importance of doing one’s part in the world.
Barry B. Benson is a young man in the bee world. The film begins on the day of his college graduation, which happens a couple of weeks after his birth.
He is surprised to find out that the job he is supposed to pick on this day, his first day in the world of the working hive, is one that he will keep for the rest of his life. Hesitant to settle down, Barry finds a way to fly outside the hive with the “pollen jocks” for a day.
His journey leads him to New York City florist Vanessa Bloom, voiced by Renee Zellweger. Bloom is a lover of all creatures and the new love of Barry’s life.
As Barry and Vanessa become friends, Barry discovers that humans sell honey — the crux of bee existence. Furthermore, the young bee finds out that this honey is manufactured on honey farms where thousands of bees are enslaved.
He decides to sue the human race for all bee-related products and terms in society (Sting is put on trial for his flippant use of a bee-related body part as a “prance- about-stage name”). The premise seems disappointingly shallow, but the result of the case makes Barry, the bees of the world and hopefully the youth in the audience learn a valuable lesson.
Once the bees have a surplus of honey from the outside world they stop working and thus stop pollinating. Flowers and plants all over the world die in the midst of this unbalancing of nature. Barry knows he is the one responsible for the disappearing flora and fauna from the earth.
In his acceptance of his error and dedication to correct his misled passions, Barry teaches a lesson about charity as defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together,” the Catechism reads, quoting from St. Paul.
Even the smallest acts, and smallest creatures affect everyone. Good acts benefit everyone. Selfish decisions harm each person tied up in the human community.
The characters are voiced by a myriad of talent ranging from Kathy Bates to John Goodman to Matthew Broderick and many cameos that fill in the spaces between vocal talent — the most entertaining arriving on “BeeNN” when Larry King voices the part of Bee Larry King. No ego is sacred to Seinfeld and the quick-witted jokes are reason enough for adults to see this film even without kids.
Sweeter than the honey the bees in the film are obsessed with, “Bee Movie” is a terrific feature that certainly does not fall into the rank implied by its name. An excellent family film with a solid message, like the honey of the world, “Bee Movie” is meant to be shared with everyone.
Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.
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