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The Movie Guru: ‘Smurfs’ keeps kids in mind, while ‘Better Man’ odd but relatable

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'Smurfs' hits local theaters this weekend.
Paramount/Courtesy photo

Smurfs’ (in theaters)

“Smurfs” is the first big budget, slightly soulless kids movie that feels like it was actually made for kids.

Most of the time, movies that smell this much like corporate are really just a string of bad jokes aimed at parents in the audience. But “Smurfs” feels more like a kids book, a little absurd and random but mostly heartfelt. There are jokes for adults tucked in here and there, but they’re in the same absurdist vein and fit in much better. If you enjoy that particular flavor of humor, you might even chuckle.

The movie doesn’t acknowledge the previous Smurf movies from Sony, though some of the plotlines come back. There’s also an attempt to give the Smurfs a deeper sense of purpose, clearly an accommodation for possible future sequels. The central plot is the one that will most resonate with kids, though — a nameless Smurf trying to find the thing he’s good at.



The art is better than previous Smurfs films, adopting the recent trend of allowing CGI to have its own artistic bent. The voice cast is crazily full of celebrities, to the point that “spot the famous person” could be a fun game for any parents watching.

Your kids will probably just be enjoying the movie.

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Grade: Two stars

Better Man’ (Prime)

The monkey ends up being less weird than you’d imagine.

“Better Man” is in many ways a straightforward biopic of British musician Robbie Williams, except that he’s portrayed as an exquisitely CGI’d monkey man (thanks, Wētā Workshop). It’s also a musical from the director of “The Greatest Showman,” which means that monkey man sings and dances along with making terrible life decisions like most celebrities. (The singing is thanks to Williams himself, while the dancing and acting are done by an excellent Jonno Davies.) The results are, surprisingly, far less surreal than I would have expected.

I mean that as a compliment. The CGI does nothing to hinder Davies’ excellent acting, letting you feel for Williams even when he’s making mistakes. And there’s a certain amount of surrealism in every big, splashy musical, and “Better Man” embraces that whole heartedly. For just over two hours you will live in a world where dramatic, joyous dance numbers are as common as the rain, and director Michael Gracey does a valiant job of making you glad to be there.

On some level, the monkey might even make the movie more relatable. We’ve all seen musicians make terrible life decisions, even ones as charming as Williams, and barely blink over it. But we’re not staring at a famous musician. We’re staring at a monkey, a functional metaphor for all of our baser impulses and terrible decisions, and watching him struggle through a life he’s not prepared for. Who hasn’t felt that way sometimes, famous or not?

In the end, maybe there’s a little monkey in all of us.

Grade: Two and a half stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society. Drop her a line at themovieguruslc@gmail.com.

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