 "Photo: MCT campus")
When I asked Jerry Seinfeld about his transition from Television to a computer-generated movie he gave me the typical, expected, Jerry Seinfeld response-"Well it was probably like your first day at Loyola. You kind of look around and you go, 'how am I ever going to figure out which building is which and where I'm supposed to be? How am I going to get there and who are all these people?' And then a couple years go by and you're still trying to figure it out probably."
Ten years after the final season of Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld has not lost his comedic touch. He's now married and has a daughter, but by no means has he slowed down. After interviewing him for over 25 minutes, it was obvious to me that Jerry is just as comical, quick-witted and cynical as ever. And with a family film like, "Bee Movie" coming out on Nov. 4, Jerry was forced to try something he's never done before: channel his humor, cynicism, sarcasm and satire into a family "cartoon". After seeing the picture, I'm convinced that he was successful. Now, I'm a sucker for cartoons, always have been, but I do think anyone can truly enjoy this movie. In fact, there are several jokes that young children could not even begin to understand because of their somewhat mature connotations.
The movie opened with a scene showing the life of the bees; the elaborate, massive city inside the hive. Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld), the main character, then proceeds to graduate from high school and head into the work force as a honeybee. However, after realizing he will only have one job for the rest of his life, Barry decides to go out into the real world for the first time to make sure he really wants to be a honeybee forever. He then meets a nice young (human) lady played by Renee Zellweger. After traveling around the city of New York he becomes aware of Bee keeping and how the humans are "stealing" honey from the bees. He then files a lawsuit against Honey Farms, the fictitious monopoly of honey in the U.S. Cameos by "honey maker" Ray Liotta and Sting make for random, hilarious sequences during a court scene in the film. The bees are suing Sting for prejudice- his name being derogatory towards bees. At one point, the authorities even break into Sting's house, interrupting his meditation, and arrest him.
The funniest line from the movie came in the final minutes. Vanessa Bloome (Zellweger) and Benson are on a plane, trying to land it with the last of the flowers on earth in hopes to pollinate. She tells Benson that she has no idea how to fly a plane and Benson responds "If John Travolta can fly a plane, anyone can." Maybe that was Jerry's shot at Travolta's disastrous career, excluding, "Grease," "Saturday Night Fever," and "Pulp Fiction," or his outrageous cult religion; but it was hilarious.
If anyone else had produced and created the concept for a movie about a bee and his curiosity with the real world versus spending his life making honey, it would have been disastrous. However, Jerry Seinfeld is a comic genius, whether he's writing and acting in a witty, random sitcom or producing and voicing a family computer generated film, he's always on his game. I wouldn't recommend this movie as a Friday Night Special for a group of college students but it is definitely something anyone can enjoy, especially slightly inebriated.
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