'The One and Only Ivan' Review
PG: Mild thematic elements
Runtime: 1 Hr and 37 Minutes
Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Jolie Pas Productions
Distributor: Disney+
Director: Thea Sharrock
Writer: Mike White
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Ramón Rodríguez, Ariana Greenblatt
Voice Cast: Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Brooklynn Prince, Chaka Khan, Ron Funches, Phillipa Soo, Mike White
Release Date: August 21, 2020
Ivan is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant, Bob the dog, and various other animals. He has few memories of the jungle where he was captured, but when a baby elephant named Ruby arrives, it touches something deep within him. Ruby is recently separated from her family in the wild, which causes him to question his life, where he comes from, and where he ultimately wants to be.
Earlier this year, director Stephen Gaghan tremendously screwed up the $175-million live-action/CGI-hybrid family picture that was Dolittle, which suffered from the director’s lack of care regarding the camera placement when it came to the CG actors appearing next to RDJ. This is director Thea Sharrock’s first live-action/hybrid feature — heck, this is her sophomore feature after the romantic-drama Me Before You — and she’s proving to be a natural filmmaker. Maybe it’s her background experience working in theater or TV, but as far as direction goes, The One and Only Ivan is fantastically filmed. It makes me want to wring Gaghan by the throat, plop him in a chair, force him to watch this movie Clockwork Orange-style and scream, “SEE!? THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT! THIS IS HOW YOU DIRECT A MOVIE WITH CG ANIMALS!”
As someone unfamiliar with the source material, I thought this film would be centered on a circus gorilla who shows a passion for drawing. However, The One and Only Ivan is surprisingly more complex than that. Much like the novel, which was inspired by the true story of Ivan, the film focuses on a sweet-natured, domesticated gorilla who is the headliner of a circus-like mall attraction helmed by his owner/ringleader Mack (Cranston). By day he plays a terrifying gorilla to entertain audiences, but when he’s in the confines of his own space alongside other show animals, he questions his purpose in life. As a matter of fact, all of the animals who reside in their cages question their purpose in life and yearn primarily for freedom. While the premise itself is familiar, the approach is nuanced. It goes in-depth with Ivan’s domestication as he shuts out his life prior to being rescued by Mack, who raised him until he got too big to take care of in a home. Because of this, he’s torn about where his heart lies, especially when he’s given the responsibility of taking care of a newcomer baby elephant named Ruby. He’s so domesticated that he forgets he’s a gorilla at times. Ivan is given so much depth and it’s truly elevated by Sam Rockwell’s calm and tender vocal performance.
The voice actors provide rich personalities to their respective roles, such as Angelina Jolie as a wise elephant named Stella, Brooklynn Prince as the young, timid Ruby, and Danny DeVito as a stray dog named Bob, who is also Ivan’s best friend. I love DeVito as Bob because, first of all, Danny DeVito voicing a dog is hilarious to me and secondly, the dynamic he shares with Ivan is humorous. They have the best dialogue exchanges, for they both sound like old souls. As the film progresses, it becomes more heartfelt than comedic. The dynamic that the animals share with each other is sweet, for they all have one common goal: freedom. There’s even a great sequence where all of the animals tell their backstories as bedtime tales to comfort newcomer Ruby, but there comes a point where it feels more like a therapy session because of how tragic most of their stories are.
The human cast is small, but Bryan Cranston, who never half-asses a performance, takes control with his charisma and commanding screen presence. You can tell that his character, Mack, loves his animals, but the financial struggles with his circus is weighing heavily on him. Mack’s background arc is also enticing and well-executed.
What makes The One and Only Ivan stand out is its mature tone where it never sacrifices its integrity for the banal bottom-of-the-barrel humor to appeal to kids. Don’t get me wrong, the humor is corny, but at least it doesn’t aim low. This is a heartfelt tale of a gorilla finding his own identity while fighting for freedom and it succeeds tremendously. I kid you not, I choked up a few times because of how much I sympathized with these characters. I can tell why this was originally intended for theaters; it’s strong storytelling with that classic Disney feel that’s way too good for the platform.
The humor is corny. I know it’s a kids’ movie, but the jokes often fall flat. There are supporting animals who don’t have much to do aside from being comedic reliefs and, oddly enough, they cast huge names to play these roles, like Chaka Khan as a chicken and Phillippa Soo as a parrot, which made me question, “Why have such iconic names in such thankless roles?” Aside from that, there’s nothing else to criticize. I genuinely love this movie and highly recommend it to families at home. The output of original Disney+ movies is a bit mixed, but The One and Only Ivan is one of the best of the bunch… behind Beyoncé, of course.
Rating: 4/5 | 82%
