Reviews of Migration and The Holdovers

Migration

In this animated comedy, Kumail Nanjiani stars as a play-it-safe duck who is urged by his more adventurous kids and wife (Elizabeth Banks) to migrate from New England to Jamaica. With an eccentric uncle (Danny Devito) in tow and a few friends they pick up along the way (a Jamaican parrot played by Keegan Michael Key with a thick patois, among them), the family faces death at every turn.

The film is in the mold of a classic animated film based around a simple Aesop (stepping out of your shell = good), but it thrives with a high laughs-per-minute ratio, solid animation, and strong comic personalities

One of the things this movie does best is to bend around the talents of its voice actors. Kumail Nanjiani often excels as a straight man on crack, so he’s good as a worrywart parent who rightfully points out that life can be pretty dangerous from the bottom of the food chain. Danny DeVito ordinarily plays wildcards and he brings some of that here as a cranky uncle who can be easily persuaded by a cute nephew. Carol Kane steals a couple scenes as a mercurial heron who might want to alternatively eat or nurture them during a storm.

The film was written by Mike White who has succeeded wildly in live action TV with introspective class-based comedy like Enlightenment and The White Lotus. This film isn’t a message picture, but it’s a lot of fun.

The Holdovers