Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Polaris_DiB The first few minutes of this seem like something out of Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted. Adult language and situations with gangsters and drug use and circuses felt like it was going to spin out quickly and do its thing. Didn't help that I thought when initially watching it that I was getting ready to view a short film.However, it turns out to be quite the production in the long run. The English speaking voice cast is filled with stars and character actors, and the dialog is written by Simon Pegg. Fitting it into the Norwegian original is probably why it's a bit chatty at certain parts, and the movie is somewhat slow paced for what it's trying to be, but that has more to do with what was obviously a long process of animation. This movie doesn't come out to be as striking of an independent animation as something like Fritz the Cat, but by the time you're a good half hour into it you realize you're seeing something unlike any other.Jimmy the Elephant is a drugged up dragged out old circus elephant addicted to the drugs they feed him to keep him trapped and performing, and unfortunately for him he becomes wanted by a wide array of sketch characters. There's the deadbeats lead by Arnie to work at the circus so that they can have access to a special package hidden in Jimmy's rump; bumbling animal's rights activists that end up killing more animals and making more speeches than effectively doing anything; Asian jester bike gang sent by the Russian mob to hunt down Arnie, only to find that Arnie's interest in Jimmy is even more valuable; and an angry fat hunter wanting a prize kill. Via various escapades they end up in the Moors and vie for a variety of positions very violent, resulting in mayhem. Poor Jimmy has to recover from his drug problem and survive in the wild in the middle of it.It's the latter point where the movie gets a heart, a surprising one, but probably the thing that pulls the movie together the most. The rest is slapstick comedy and the adult humor can drag a bit at times (especially in the dialog) but suddenly when you see a moose befriend Jimmy and put him through recovery, you get this strangely wonderful, wonderfully absurd, and absurdly powerful recovery plot that sticks. The music is a little hokey, yeh, but the character animation and how they personify the characters of the moose and Jimmy is pitch perfect.So, that only leaves the trouble of where the heck did this come from? An 80 minute animation from Norway with a story like that was not only a movie I didn't expect to stumble upon (currently it is playing for free on Mubi.com), less do I understand why I wouldn't have heard somethings about it. This is certainly currently an undiscovered gem--flawed, not exactly the best movie out there, but something different. Maybe star power behind the voice actors will bring it a little more attention.--PolarisDiB

Enchorde Recap: Roy Arnie recruits his small time crook friends to work with him at a rundown Russian circus touring in Norway. There all the animals are medicated with heavy drugs to get them to perform. Worst of is Jimmy, an elephant. Addicted to both heroin and speed he soon get to be the center of attention. A militant terrorist group of animal activists try to set him free and get him into rehab. Some mobster motorcycle gang Sami want to make money on him and a bully violent hunter want him as a trophy kill. Comments: An animated movie listed as a comedy. But don't get the wrong idea. This is certainly not for kids and not really funny either. Not unless you find drug abuse and addiction combined with violent battery and murder amusing. You need something else, some twisted extra scenes to make a comedy out of such a setup, Free Jimmy just doesn't have it. I read that the movie was an homage to the directors dead brother who lost his battle with drugs. If true, it is all very well. But it isn't enough to make a movie good or entertaining and has really no bearing on how it should be regarded.When I read the plot summation I thought it was a promising idea. But I imagined something else entirely. I expected a fast paced whacky comedy that centered on the animals at the circus and how they conspired to break free. Free Jimmy got nothing of that. The pace is slow and dull. Long stretches are focused on Jimmy and a moose, but since they are denied to communicate verbally the long scenes soon become pointless and boring. It is not whacky at all. At best it can be described as a dark comedy, but I think that is to stretch the truth a bit too far. It certainly is dark though. And the animals have no standing at all in the movie. The animation in itself is poor and in line with the rest of the movie it can be described as dark and gloomy at best. The words I would like to describe it is oily and rubbery. No texture at all (to costly is my guess) and hair and fur, when allowed, looks like the characters wear rubber wigs. Everything is bouncy as a rubber ball. It is not very realistic. It is not part of some humor and caricature. It is not cute or cuddly. It is just plain bad. Too much of what can be rendered on a home computer and not really worthy of a feature film.However, the worst mistake is the characters. There is not one that is in the least likable, even less one able to sympathize with. Most of them, all of the main characters, deserve lengthy jail times. Actually, it almost shames me to admit, that jail would be a fate too good for them, and some of them do get what they deserve.In all fairness, taste is personal. And obviously someone must have liked this so much they gave it an award. But to me that is a mystery. I can't see anything good in Free Jimmy.2/10

sharkattack1978 I got to see the British version of this film and yes it was very funny. Be warned though, due to the stereotype that obviously we London Cockney's have got is used to the full in this. The Facking (use a u instead of the a and you get what i mean, if you are a Londoner you will Definitely know what i mean) word gets used quite a lot in this film, nearly all the time. The cream of British talent is in this which was what stood out to me in watching it. Phil "Quadrophenia" Daniels plays a funny foul mouthed cockney junkie in this that really has to be seen to be believed. Simon "Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead" Pegg is the other main characters in this and at times is virtually unrecognisable in this as he is doing a voice and you can only just get that it's him. The one who played the little guy of the group made me laugh the most as he was always doing things wrong. David "The Doctor" Tennant is also in this and made me laugh quite a few times as he uses his original Scottish accent to the full here. Woody Harrelson Plays the American junkie who dreams of having his own circus, Kris "My family" Marshall plays a animal rights crusader, so does Samantha "Band of Gold/Minority Report" Morton plays a emotional and clumsy animal rights crusader. Even Kyle "Twin peaks" Mclachlan turns up in this as the leader of the animal rights crusaders. This movie is a riot from beginning to end but also there is a message in it too. It may be hard to find under the language and the laughs but when the film is finished, it will hit you. There are some very touching scenes in it too. Free Jimmy is a film for Older kids because of the language but if you can by pass that then kids will love it and laugh with you at all the jokes.The story is a bit slow but the acting and the performances push it through and make it an entertaining movie to watch. Like i said Parents: It's up to you if you want to show this to your kids, mind you kids already know that kind of language nowadays so i don't see why not. It's the kind of cartoon Disney would make if they had the balls.

EnvyYouProductions Isn't it annoying how film reviewers describe unusual films often as (insert film title here) on drugs? So LIFE OF BRIAN is THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD on dope, MEET THE FEEBLES is MUPPETS on acid, and perhaps JAWS once was FLIPPER on steroids. Having said that, FREE JIMMY literally is DUMBO on speed. No, really: Jimmy is a circus elephant that's kept quiet with downers and pushed with uppers for the show. And that old pachyderm is wanted by many groups. Smalltime crooks want to retrieve heroin sewn under the animal's skin, the Lappland mafia wants the same, militant animal activists want to free the tortured beast, and drunk Swedish game hunters look for anything as big as a moose to shoot in the Scandinavian outbacks. Doesn't sound like your run-off-the-mill blockbuster, and it isn't. FREE JIMMY is a CG-animated Norwegian film, skillfully voiced by Woody Harrelson, Kyle McLachlan, Samantha Morton, Simon Pegg, Jim Broadbent and others. It's wickedly non-pc, with a number of hilarious scenes, and sometimes reminds one of FRITZ THE CAT with the sex and suffering animals shown. It works as a FREE WILLY spoof, not sparing any of Jimmy's pursuers from scoff and mockery. It's not as insanely funny as THE FEEBLES were, but a good nasty laugh nonetheless. 7/10