Movie Review: Shark Tale

Fri Oct 1st 2004

Starring: Will Smith, Renee Zellweger, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, 
Angelina Jolie and Martin Scorsese (and more!) 
Directed By: Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, Rob Letterman 
Rating: PG (Mild Violence) 

I think the three year old who, briefly, sat next to me while waiting 
for the movie to start said it best "Mommy, I wanna go home!" and then 
began to cry. After multiple attempts to calm the young sage down his 
mother caved in and took him home. We should have all been so lucky. 

Will Smith plays Oscar, a little fish in a big pond - the Ocean.
Oscar is a dreamer. In "real life" Oscar is a skilled, second-generation, 
tongue cleaner at the Sykes' Whale Wash [Think car wash for whales]
but he wants so much more -- He fantasizes about being a hip-hop
superstar: rich, famous and living at the top of the reef. Angie, 
his best friend, voiced by Renee Zellweger is a down to earth secretary
working at the wash, who thinks of Oscar as a little bit more than a 
best friend ... ok, a lot more than a best friend. 

Oscar - optimist, dreamer, bad with money - manages to dig himself 
deeply into Sykes', his boss, (voiced by Martin Scorsese) debt.
Sykes, in turn, insults the Godfather, the capo-de-sharko, Don Lino 
(who else but Robert De Niro?), who incidentally is a great white shark. 
Sykes must now start paying the Don protection money... and guess where
he's going to get the first installment? That's right, our hero, Oscar! 

In the end, Oscar bungles the deal, falls in lov...er lust and comes
out on top as a great "Shark Slayer" propelling him to the fame and
fortune he's always longed for. Do you think he left behind someone he 
cared for in his rush to fame and glory? 

There is one fatal flaw with this movie - it's just not funny. I
blame the writers. 

The actors did their best to make it work. Jack Black's talent,
which in my opinion is very visual, was wasted as Lenny the vegetarian 
shark (and Don Lino's son). Everyone else played the same character they 
always play: Smith - boisterous hero, Zellweger - frustrated lover, 
De Niro - tired gangster, Jolie - bitch. 

Maybe I'm just not the target audience. The target audience still 
thinks that an hour and a half of Will Smith's urban slang is funny, 
really funny. The jokes and characters are all slightly off, as if they 
were the results of a committee, mediocre. "You're so poor your
bologna doesn't even have a first name!" is the wittiest joke in the
film. The best scenes are with the Sharks, they can at least make you 
laugh a little. Even a half-hearted performance by Robert De Niro is a 
good one in my perspective. Sure it was typical "poke fun at the
gangster" and he basically reprised his role from "Analyze This" but it 
was better than the rest of the film. 

Now, the big question, how does "Shark Tale" compare to Road
House? Well¦ There's no ultra violent bouncer, very little drinking.
But both movies appeal to the kids, and there's some good shark beating 
scenes, so in my book that's worth 2 out of 5. 

Shark Take opens nationwide on October 1st. 

By: David Kerr 
Detroit Buzz Staff Film Critic