One can easily balk at the concept behind “Free Birds.” Two intrepid turkeys go back in time to get all turkeys off the Thanksgiving menu.
But in Jimmy Hayward’s (“Horton Hears a Who”) animated film, co-written by Scott Mosier (“Clerks”), characters keep egging each other on to slow down. They’re always speaking fast, acting swift and sprinting loudly.
The scenario is simple, but the characters are not. Reggie (Owen Wilson, “Midnight in Paris”) is a magenta crested turkey who sees through the guise of his comfortable life on the farm. The farmer comes and goes grabbing a couple of his fellow potential butterballs and whisking them away to “turkey heaven.”
Eventually, Reggie is bequeathed the honor of a presidential pardon and taken to Camp David, where he is led by Jake (Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”) and taken away into a giant egg shaped time machine (George Takei, “Star Trek”). Reggie then joins the mission to make the first Thanksgiving to save every turkey from the dinner table.
As absurd as all this sounds, plotwise, “Free Birds” is fast, smart and filled with witty humor and asides. The film doesn’t treat its subject with a complete rejection of some sobering realities, as the story can become tangled in the actualities of human consumption of these feathered friends. Jake’s story becomes particularly rueful as the discovery behind his destiny is revealed.
Is “Free Birds” going to change a few minds on Thanksgiving to give up the foul for some fennel salad? Probably not. Doesn’t mean, “Free Birds” should be passed on so easily though.
