‘Finding Nemo’ is a treasure from under the sea

The Disney/Pixar team has given us such computer-animated gems as the two Toy Story movies, A Bug’s Life and Monsters, Inc. But in their latest creation, the underwater adventure Finding Nemo (which opened with a huge $70.6 million, the biggest opening weekend ever for an animated film), they have really outdone themselves. The film follows the epic journey of Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), an over-protective clownfish father who is trying to find his son Nemo (Alexander Gould). Nemo, who as a child lost his mother and siblings because of a barracuda, was taken by divers from the Great Barrier Reef and placed in a dentist’s office aquarium. Marlin must now find his son before the dentist gives Nemo as a gift to Darla, a frightening little girl who has been labeled by sea creatures as "the fish killer." He must travel throughout the ocean and the EAC (East Australian Current) to get to Sydney, Australia, with the help of Dory (voiced by the hilarious Ellen DeGeneres), a friendly fish who suffers from short-term memory loss. Together, they must battle sharks, jellyfish, seagulls and other creatures to get Nemo safely home. Other famous faces from the cast are Everybody Loves Raymond’s Brad Garrett, The West Wing’s Allison Janney, Geoffrey Rush and Willem Dafoe.

Though perceived as a mere children’s movie, Finding Nemo goes much, much farther than that. The film is poignant at times, often funny, thanks to writer and director Andrew Stanton, who co-directed A Bug’s Life and was a screenwriter on all four Disney/Pixar films. It captures your heart (sorry if that sounded so corny) and is touching and moving (I almost cried during the first scene when Nemo’s mother dies). The emotional roller coaster that Marlin is going through mixed with Dory’s witty and funny one-liners and the film’s smart humor make for a unique and delightful treat that puts this movie above the rest.

The movie is also visually stunning, the best computer-animation Pixar has ever done. Those cinematic wizards at Pixar have yet to let me down. The colorful undersea wonderland that we see before us reflects wonderfully on the dozens of characters that we are introduced to. Every fish, dolphin, crustacean and strand of kelp is a dazzling work of art, up to the last bubble and grain of sand on the ocean floor. All the wild and wacky characters never miss a joke, and that’s thanks to the excellent voice performances given by the cast. Crush is the 150-year-old sea turtle that sounds like he’s 16, Bruce, the shark that fights his craving for smaller fish, and Nemo’s "aquarium-mates" Gill, Bloat, Peach, Deb and Jacques.

Unbelievably, I cannot find anything wrong with this movie. Not a single thing. You come out of the theater refreshed, captivated and mesmerized by the amazing spectacle you’ve just seen, a spectacle that is already one of the best animated films of all time. And if Finding Nemo doesn’t win Best Animated Feature in next year’s Academy Awards, then the film that beat it should might as well win Best Picture.

Bottom Line: A beautifully dazzling, emotionally involving, visually stunning masterpiece that I will never, ever forget. Undoubtedly one of this year’s best films!

Grade: A