It is a strange brew, putting together the wit spirit of Jones' irreverence with a story which is essentially sentimental. Boss Baby is about the anxiety many firstborns feel upon no longer being an only child. The fears many people of all ages have about not being loved enough, or competing for attention, affection, emotion. Perhaps the story would have just been far to twee without the element of sardonic aftertaste.
So despite the general blase reaction to Boss Baby, I ended up falling in the camp of "it worked." Perhaps because I am a huge fan of Jones' style and the tribute touched me. Perhaps because I am a first born who somewhat relates to the fears explored here. Perhaps because I went in expecting high adrenaline pacing, poop joke infected dialogue, and standard CGI animation tropes that I was surprised to see the level of wit and class executed in Boss Baby. Until the end, I felt Boss Baby walked the delicate tightrope between irony and pathos. The ending was where the film needed to go and I don't fault it on that, but it reminded me that the film is about answering our fears and not upending our ideas of family.
Yes the poop jokes are there (how do you avoid them in a movie about babies?) but often they were cleverer than your average poop joke and sometimes even subtly crafted. The film pulls off the great American Animation trick of peppering the movie with both the pratfalls children enjoy with the side jokes adults like without feeling like we are oscillating between two extremes. So poop jokes and all, Boss Baby impressed. And no, it has nothing to do with any American president.
Boss Baby
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Tobey Maguire, Steve Buscemi
Director: Tom McGrath
Writer: Michael McCullers
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