HOME is a lovely children's animated movie - funny, beautifully imagined and with a lovely message. It has received mixed reviews and I really don't get it - I had a wonderful time watching this film.
The movie stars THE BIG BANG THEORY's Jim Parsons as another misfit alien struggling to relate to normal humans(!) - an alien called Oh. Oh is a Boov - and his species has invaded Earth, fleeing the evil Gorg, and put resettled all humans in Australia. All humans except a young girl called Tip (Rihanna), who was saved from resettlement when her pet cat fooled the detector beams. Oh is sweet and naive and prone to mistakes, like when he mistakenly emails the entirely galaxy inviting them to his housewarming, including the evil Gorg. As a result both he and Tip are fugitives, and team up for a joint adventure as she tries to find her mum. On the way, we see two supposedly warring people get to know each other and a bond of true friendship form.
I really love Jim Parsons, and I think your tolerance for Oh, and his Yoda'd syntax will depend on whether you find his super-expressive speech funny. I also thought Rihanna did a great job acting as Tip, although the Rihanna heavy sound-track got wearing after a while. But the real voice star is Steve Martin, who I haven't seen/heard for YEARS as the cowardly and impetuous Boov leader. Great to have him back. Ultimately though, the true delight in this film is its visual imagination. The idea that Oh could modify Tip's car with all the machines in a 7-11 so that it's powered by slushies and spits out nachos and popcorn as weapons. I love how the Boov change colour to show emotion and the sheer cute plasticity of them. And the final twist, though slightly predictable, is so sweetly imagined that I couldn't help but love it.
So, overall, a good old-fashioned warmly funny, earnest children's comedy adventure. There's no post-modern cynicism here. Just a good old-fashioned belief in friendship and family.
HOME has a running time of 94 minutes and is rated PG. The movie is on global release.
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