222. The Bob’s Burgers Movie; movie review

 

THE BOB'S BURGERS MOVIE

Cert PG

102 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild sex references, language

With the exceptions of The Simpsons, I can't say I have even been a devotee of adult-aiming American animations such as Family Guy, Futurama or South Park. 

Thus, I didn't explore the Bob's Burgers TV series.

However, I was rather taken with the tales of the Belcher family after they emerged on to the big screen.

I still can't fathom why some of the female characters are voiced by men and how it gets away with some of its sexual suggestions relating to teenagers but it somehow works.

Anyway, this tale begins with pessimistic Bob (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Roberts) being told by the bank that they need to pay their debts within or week or their burger bar will be seized and they will, be out on the streets.

Bob's tailspin of despair is deepened by a series of events which seem to make business survival impossible.

Meanwhile, their three children, Tina (Dan Mirtz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal) are on their own mission to help their mum and dad.

Loren Bouchard and Bernard Derriman's film has flickers of The Simpsons, having a similar humour as well as going off at wacky tangents.

There is more teamwork here, though, with Bob picking up on his wife's positivity rather than just making similar crazy mistakes to Homer.

School also features heavily with the three kids going through the sort of anxieties which would strike a chord with any in their respective age group.

And, of course, it is fun. There are many amusing moments and by its final stretch, we are inwardly cheering for the Belchers.

I am a Bob's Burger convert.

Reasons to watch: Wacky and fast-moving

Reasons to avoid: Need to be plugged into its humour

Laughs: Chuckles rather than laughs

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? In creator Loren Bouchard's original concept, the family were cannibals but Fox executives convinced him to drop that aspect of the show.

The final word. Loren Bouchard: "As far as identifying with the characters, for me it switches all the time. I’m Bob in the morning when I wake up and then, somewhere during the day, I become all of the other characters at least once, if not several times. I like to think at the end of the day after I’ve had a glass of wine I’m Linda." Skwigly

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