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Release Date: Nov 03, 2006; Rated: PG; DVD Release Date: Feb 20, 2007; Genres: Animation, Kids & Family; With: Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet; Distributor: Paramount Pictures
C+
By Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly is a senior writer at EW, and also author of EW.com's Money Shot column

What a free ride the computer-animated feature Flushed Away (PG, 84 mins., 2006) got from most critics last fall. An oil-and-water hybrid from England's Aardman studio (home of bucktoothed, clay-animated Wallace & Gromit) and DreamWorks' CG wing (Shrek central), it's a bipolar mismatch. Droll British-flavored humor alternates abruptly with frenetic made-in-America slapstick, as pet mouse Roddy (Hugh Jackman) gets bounced from his comfy Kensington cage into the London sewers, where he tangles with feisty ship-running rat Rita (Kate Winslet). Whenever the story sags, in comes another irrelevant gag with singing slugs. Their billing on the DVD — ''All-New Animated Slug Songs!'' — is a cheat, since the two ''songs'' run about one minute total. A commentary by first-time feature directors Sam Fell and David Bowers cements the impression of nice people without a narrative game plan. (Further evidence on YouTube: the movie's trailer, featuring two butler characters excised from the film.) DreamWorks cut off its partnership with Aardman after Flushed was a wash-out. That may be better for Aardman's artistic health.


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Posted Feb 16, 2007
 

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