Gulliver’s Travels Wasn’t Half-Bad
Jack Black is a lot like Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and other comedic men who start off making us laugh, then somehow get stuck in a rut churning out the same movies with the same plots and schtick that eventually lead us to make fun of them—which makes them still funny, but in a much less nicer way. I used to love goofy Black’s movies, until they started to get formulaic due to his own level of goofiness. That movie he made about cave people or whatever—I can’t even remember the title, I’ve tried to suppress it so much—made me want to gouge my eyes out with an ice cream scoop.
That said, Black is still pretty awesome when it comes to children’s movies, and I’m thinking that is where the funny guy should stay. He can entertain both adults and kids with his silliness in this genre without becoming too annoying. I am chagrined to admit my favorite character he’s ever played is the loveable panda Poe, who is not only funny, but also made being body acceptance and love a children’s movie topic. (Now if only we could have a female character wield the same sword…)
But recently my daughter and I had the opportunity to watch his film Gulliver’s Travels for free, so we took it. I had mentioned renting it when it first came out on DVD, but my husband, completely burned out on Black, had rejected the idea and I think we ended up watching Rio again—a film that I wasn’t very impressed with, either. Note to single people: when you have kids, your movie options dwindle significantly.
I must admit that the movie wasn’t all that bad. You can expect Black’s usual brand of slackerdom, Guitar Hero worship, lying and learning to not lie anymore through painful experiences, and love of a girl much prettier than he is with much more character than he has like you can in the rest of his movies. But a good cast, funny scenarios, and clichéd but cute lines of development make the movie okay. I wouldn’t nominate it for any awards, but it didn’t make my eyes bleed, either.
Seeing Black in a dress, being fed a baby bottle and made to kiss a toy man were not images I had ever planned to witness in my life, but I must admit that I did chuckle over them. Seeing Billy Connelly, an actor I love, get peed on wasn’t exactly on my Bucket List either, and it’s also not something I’d normally laugh about, but seeing the joy on my daughter’s face as she laughed so hard she turned red was simply contagious. Note to single guys watching this—borrow a kid if you can. It will enhance the experience.