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Sing poster

CAST (VOICES OF)
MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY
TARON EGERTON
JENNIFER HUDSON
GARTH JENNINGS
SCARLETT JOHANSSON
TORI KELLY
NICK KROLL
SETH MACFARLANE
JOHN C. REILLY
JENNIFER SAUNDERS
PETER SERAFINOWICZ
REESE WITHERSPOON

WRITTEN BY
GARTH JENNINGS

PRODUCED BY
JANET HEALY
CHRISTOPHER MELEDANDRI

DIRECTED BY
GARTH JENNINGS

GENRE
ANIMATION
FAMILY
MUSIC

RATED
AUS:G
UK:U
USA:PG

RUNNING TIME
108 MIN

SING (2016)

Sing is a joyous celebration of little dreamers singing large, while also representing the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit needed in brining those dreams to life.

Illumination Animation are steadily building quite a resume. While not at that Pixar level of success (yet), the burgeoning animation house has comfortably taken that third-place spot in American animation from a floundering Dreamworks Animation, thanks to its Despicable Me franchise and this year’s The Secret Life of Pets.

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Add Sing as another winner. Directed and written by Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow), this joyous, toe tapping and charming tale hits all the right notes to make for a smile on your face infectious tapestry of song, colour and feelgood vibes.

Matthew McConaughey heads a star stacked cast in his voicing of Buster Moon, a theatre owning Koala (thankfully no Australian accent is attempted), who in his tenacious entrepreneurial spirit decides to stage a singing competition that will hopefully put butts in seats and save him from crippling debt.

Although a hustler and somewhat charlatan, there is much to like and root for in Buster. Perhaps it’s those cute, furry Koala ears, yet his persistence at achieving some sort of greatness no matter the obstacles ahead of him is a character trait to be admired. Of course, the choice to hold a singing competition is “so 2010”. Yet even those of us who have had their fill of American Idol, The Voice, and all that other related dreck, can find much too enjoy in the coming together of a varied cast of characters. Among them is Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) a housewife pig chasing her teenage music dreams; Mike (Seth MacFarlane) a crooning mouse whose attitude is equal to his talent; and Ash (Scarlett Johansson) a punk rocking porcupine who finds her true self. All actors do a great job in delivering on the songs selected, ranging from Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.

Sing is the second film by Jennings, whose debut Son of Rambow showed his great promise as a filmmaker and storyteller. It’s a promise Jennings is living up to. There are a lot of elements to juggle in Sing, with multiple characters and multiple story threads revolving around Buster’s own narrative journey. Yet Jennings makes it all work, and work very well as an animated family comedy of little pretence and a whole lot of high quality family entertainment value.

During a time when animated family films are delving further into dark territory, Sing brings it back to a lighter yet effective story which tells that while dreams can come true, hard work is needed to make it happen.

****

 

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