I learned something important about children right after my newborn baby girl came home from the hospital. That first night, she slept like
well, like a baby. My two-year-old
cried like one. He was uncharacteristically restless, up and down all night, while his sister seemed perfectly content (for that first night anyway). Having a second child in the home is tough to get used to – especially for the first child. To that firstborn, it can suddenly seem like absolutely everything has changed and that the new arrival is now more important than anything or anyone else. When the new baby suddenly seems to be getting all the attention and when his or her every cry is answered immediately and every whim is catered to, that baby can seem to be
the boss. It's that phenomenon, which parents with more than one child know so well, that formed the basis for a 2010 children's book by American author/illustrator Marla Frazee, and the animated feature film that the book inspired, 2017's "The Boss Baby" (PG, 1:37).
Tim (voiced by Miles Bakshi) is a typical 7-year-old. He has an active imagination, he loves to play with his parents and he's happy. He's happy with the way everything in his life is. Right now. Today. But that all changes when his parents (Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow) step out of a taxi cab, enter the family home, and introduce Tim to his brand new baby brother. Tim quickly feels neglected. For example, his former bedtime ritual of both of his parents coming to his room to read him stories, sing him a special song and hug and kiss him goodnight turns into both of them running up and down the hall towards the baby's room and then passing out from exhaustion on the livingroom couch. But not only does Tim resent the new baby, he becomes suspicious of him. That baby doesn't seem to be acting like a regular baby. Tim thinks the little tyke isn't who he seems to be. Tim thinks that baby is up to something, and
Tim is absolutely right! He catches his baby brother talking – talking in complete sentences – on a (toy) telephone! Tim confronts the baby and the baby answers him! This Boss Baby (voiced by Alec Baldwin) tells Tim that he's on an undercover mission for Baby Corp., the company which produces and distributes babies all over the world. Baby (whose actual name we don't hear until late in the movie) demands Tim's help, promising that once his job there is done, he'll leave Tim's house for good. Tim's parents work for Puppy Co, which is developing a new kind of puppy that will cut into the amount of family love available to babies more than any previous puppy model before it. With Tim's help (and the help of other babies – voiced by Conrad Vernon, Eric Bell Jr., ViviAnn Yee and David Soren – whose parents also work at the company), Baby plans to infiltrate Puppy Co, find out what they're working on, and stop the company and their CEO (Steve Buscemi) from turning any more baby love into puppy love.
"The Boss Baby" is pretty creative and a lot of fun! Screenwriter Michael McCullers (the scribe of the last two "Austin Powers" movies, "Baby Mama", "Hotel Transylvania 3" and "Shrek 5") successfully expands the premise of Frazee's novel to make it worthy of a feature film. Director Tom McGrath (helmer of the "Madagascar" movies and "Megamind") makes sure the screen is filled with colorful, imaginative and enjoyable scenes to propel this childhood adventure to its very satisfying conclusion. The talented voice cast delivers solid performances and the computer animation lives up to the high standards that Movie Fans expect from DreamWorks films. The story is a throwback to earlier styles of animated kid adventures, reminding me of "Toy Story" and similar older movies). The result is a film that's mostly kid-friendly (with just a little coarse language and a bunch of toilet jokes and shots of baby butts) and may even make parents feel a little nostalgic for movies from their childhoods. "The Boss Baby" is pretty boss – and is great fun for the whole family. "A-"
