The Boss Baby is a computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. 7-year old Tim Templeton lives the sweet life of a single child with parents spoiling him with attention. When suddenly, his parents decide he needs a sibling and in comes the Boss Baby. A baby version resembling Jack Donaghy a character from 30 Rock previously played by Alec Baldwin. This business savvy suit-wearing baby wreaks havoc for Timmy while trying to maintain his cover as an agent of Baby Corp.
The thin premise which was based on a book of the same name doesn’t really offer much up for story. I had a low bar set for it after watching the trailer, so I wasn’t overly disappointed that it was just an okay movie. Alec Baldwin really carries it to create funny moments of business dialog and his useless baby body. As the Boss Baby struggles, he will have to make amends with his new big bro in order to complete his mission. Just watching a baby fumble around is cute and funny enough without dialog. Tim’s views are also funny to watch when the scenes cut back and forth between real life and his imagination. The writing sometimes made it a letdown with a few too many poop jokes and a weak story. In terms of quality it just seems below the bar from what to expect from a DreamWorks film. Maybe if I had been an only child or the 1st child it would have hit home a bit more for me, but I just found it ordinary.
The Boss Baby is a very safe movie to watch with the kiddies, but in terms of quality it’s just an average movie. There are creative and funny scenes, but overall its either for a young audience that loves the physical comedy from the baby or the older audience to get the innuendos. You can find better animated movies to watch, but if you really need a movie to watch with the younger ones I guess this does the trick.
MPAA Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hr 37 min
Director: Tom McGrath
Screenplay: Michael McCullers,
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Tobey Maguire, and Miles Bakshi
Producers: Ramsey Ann Naito
Music: Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation