Review: Barnyard

UK Release: 20th October 2006

This CGI cartoon crosses the thematic conceits of The Lion King with the skewed world presented in Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoons, where animals stand up and talk whenever humans aren’t looking.

Kevin James voices fun-loving cow Otis, who must face up to his manly responsibility when his father (Sam Elliott, who does a mean Johnny Cash impression at one point) is killed by coyotes. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk, better known for his live-action films Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, brings a strong cinematic sensibility to the proceedings, and Barnyard brims with often laugh-out-loud sight gags and one-liners.

Younger children may be a little disturbed by the violence and the movie’s dark undertones, while the more literal-minded will just feel confused by the film’s muddled biology: all the cows, male and female alike, have udders.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate PG
Running time 89mins

Review by Leslie Felperin

News: Kevin James

The voice of Otis the Cow in this week’s Barnyard may remain best-known for his TV work in the lead on US sitcom The King of Queens, but after starring alongside Adam Sandler in next year’s I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, all that could change. James and Sandler play two Philadelphia firement who decide to pretend to be gay to qualify for couples allowance and, with a cast that includes Dan Ackroyd, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Biel and living legend Richard Chamberlain (one of the few big-names of movieland to have publicly outed himself), it could well prove a hit.

Three more projects have also recently been announced where James finally gets the big screen lead: Field Trip, where he’ll play a substitute teacher with an unruly class; Monster Hunter, where he’ll play a shildpsychologist who gets rid of monsters under the bed; and Man in Uniform, where he’ll – erm – play a man who dresses up as a policeman for some reason, no doubt with hilarious consequences… Still, looks like this is a comedian on the up.