Starpulse.com 

Home > Movies > R > Racing Stripes > Reviews


Rating:
In the world of delusional barnyard animals, a zebra that wants to be a racehorse is a lot like a pig that wants to be a sheepdog, and that's not the only thing Racing Stripes owes to Babe. Unfortunately for Racing Stripes, it didn't steal any of the parts that made Babe classic. For one, the technical specs are not up to snuff. The animals' moving mouths have that disembodied quality that was industry standard before Babe raised the bar -- a whole ten years beforehand. Secondly, the characters are just more annoying versions of the Babe stable, notably the cowardly wise-guy pelican (voiced by Joe Pantoliano, a typically obvious choice), who could be the long-lost cousin of Babe's displaced duck. The characters who bring the most fun to the proceedings -- precisely because they are rendered effectively -- are a pair of flies called Buzz and Scuzz, who are 100-percent digital creations. The intensely formulaic nature of Racing Stripes does not preclude it from having some nice moments, even though they may be of the preschool variety. Bruce Greenwood gives a tenderly sober performance as the widowed trainer, and the rudimentary racetrack he cuts into his cornfield feels like a pleasant homage to Field of Dreams. Director Frederick Du Chau is even capable of the occasional clever shot. And if we're focusing on preschoolers, it never hurts to learn that age-old lesson of accepting those who are different. Unlike its determined zebra, Racing Stripes is not one of a kind, but it's still competently heartfelt family entertainment. Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide




Browse More Movies:
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z