Roald Dahl. Tim Burton. Wes Anderson. The talented artists like these gentlemen are wavelength artists. What the hell does that mean? Well, basically, there’s no middle ground with them. If you connect with what they’re going for, you’ve met their wavelength. But if you don’t? Nails on a chalkboard. I get what the Willoughbys is going for, but I had a hard time meeting it on its wavelength, leaving the laughs and fun extremely hit or miss.
Like those weirdos above, the Willoughbys are not your conventional family as the cat narrator (Ricky Gervais) tells us. Mom (Jane Krakowski) and Dad (Martin Short) are head over heels in love with each other, so much so, that there’s no love left over for their 4 kids: Tim (Will Forte), Jane (Alessia Cara) and twins both named Barnaby (Sean Cullen). When a strange gift arrives on their doorstep, the kids go a journey that leads them to the Willy Wonka like Commander Melanoff (Terry Crews) and a new Nanny (Maya Rudolph) as their parents went on a trip leaving the kids by themselves.
The big reason I couldn’t get on this movie’s wavelength is the plot. The Willoughbys seem to take inspiration from one of the WORST movies ever made, North, where a kid divorces his parents via completely nonsensical means, carrying a malice that makes the characters a pain to be around. The self absorbed parents are totally amusing I admit, but Tim is a bit of a pain in the ass and almost too strange: I find it hard to believe he’s never left his house, and he appears to be frightened of everything and stupid one minute, then completely coherent and docile the next. This characterization dulls the emotional punch the movie goes for when Tim is involved. Fortunately, there’s enough other characters that we’re never too focused on Tim, and the animation is colorfully delightful.
Now that doesn’t mean that you won’t connect with The Willoughbys at all. I found a few moments where the connection was forged, and I would burst out laughing or smile. By far the best material is anything the Barnabies say or do: they’re so creepily robotic I’d watch little stories about them growing up. Maya Rudolph is also lovely as the Nanny, Mary Poppins like in her ability to be a parental figure to kids without parents. Alessia Cara is here to sing one great song, and thankfully that song is lovely. Ricky Gervais is also perfectly cast as a narrator that has one foot removed from the story but keeps finding ways to intervene. Finally, like I said before, Jane Krakowski and Martin Short find the right note as the parents, not really cruel, just hilariously self absorbed and horrifically inconvenienced by children. All of these people keep the movie from falling too deeply into the mean spiritedness of the plot, the saving grace of The Willoughbys.
I’d call The Willoughbys a good try adopting Lois Lowry’s novel. I’d say of you happen to have a set of twins that are a little off, The Willoughbys is perfect for them. Yes. Basicially I want more Barnabies in the world. That means start naming twins the same name people!