Home – Movie Review

Home – PG
Release Date: Fri 27 Mar 2015

Home is a 3D animated feature from Dreamworks starring Jim Parsons as an alien named Oh and Rihanna as a human named Tip. Oh is on the run from his people after making a serious mistake that has endangered their survival, and he tags along with Tip on her quest to find her mother who was forcibly relocated.

The plot of Home is fairly unique. It’s a very episodic road movie, with the next goal always being within a few minutes from being either reached or changed via new information. Rather than it being long-winded and frustrating, there is always forward momentum and the journey and the result are rarely predictable. It’s often funny, but also has sly messages about how to treat people and the importance of family and community. There’s enough twists, turns and original ideas that I can actually say (in a rare case for a family film) that I can’t say more without spoiling some of the surprises.

Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez (who voices Tip’s mother) feature prominently in the soundtrack. Sometimes the movie uses these songs for montages or over the top of dialog. This would seem like it would lead the movie to feel like a music video at times, but the consistency of the voices and songs make it feel like a natural fit for the movie.

Home ranks among the best Dreamworks stuff and is a good fit for a family film. It doesn’t have the inappropriate humor of something like Shrek, but is still funny and engaging enough to keep audiences young and old entertained. We saw it in 3D and didn’t feel it was worth the extra price, but other than that it’s a fine film to take the kids to see.

Hannah and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion in the car: