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By David Rogers
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
The New Editor
I just got home from two-plus hours in a dark room filled with a mix of small children and
adults. In other words, while my wife and baby were out of town, I snuck out to see
Pixar/Disney’s The Incredibles.
It was a fantastic show.
The animation is terrific. Holly Hunter does her best work since her fantastic trio of Blood
Simple, Raising Arizona, and Broadcast News. Her portrayal of a superheroic mom who is
literally pulled in all directions is warm, sympathetic and (notwithstanding the fact that she’s
animated) real.
The Incredibles family of superheroes, with the wide-at-the-hips Elastigirl (Hunter), the
heroic-physique turned pear-shaped dad Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), and hyperactive
super-speed son (Spencer Fox) and shy invisible daughter (Sarah Vowell) are superheroes
you believe and sympathize with. Oh, their powers are Incredible, but their problems (aside
from the giant robots) are not. Mr. Incredible wants to help people, including the customers
of the insurance company where he works, but his boss won’t let him. And when Mr.
Incredible punches his boss who wouldn’t let him (Wallace Shawn, best known as Vizzini,
the Sicilian mastermind, from The Princess Bride), everyone who has ever had an obnoxious
overbearing boss is in there punching with him.
Samuel L. Jackson, who has been part of more giant-grossing movies than any other
individual actor in the last fifteen years (Star Wars Episodes I-III, Kill Bill, Unbreakable,
Shaft, Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Pulp Fiction, Jurassic Park, Patriot Games,
Goodfellas, Do The Right Thing, and much much more), plays Mr. Incredible’s sidekick and
best man, a ice-wielding superhero known as “Frozone” whose wife won’t let him wear his
supersuit because it would wreck her dinner party.
The Incredibles and other superheroes are put out of business and forced into undeservedly
early retirement by lawsuits. All they want to do is help, but the government regulates them
away. They have admirers who turn into stalkers, and young “Dash” Incredible is always
being sent to the principal’s office.
It’s a wonderful family. It’s a wonderful movie. It’s a wonderful family movie.
David Rogers is a contributing editor for The New Editor.
Paul Geary
David Rogers