Home
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Johnson
Screenplay by
  • Tom J. Astle
  • Matt Ember
Produced by
Starring
Edited by
  • Jessica Ambinder-Rojas
  • Alexander Berner
Music byLorne Balfe[1]
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • March 7, 2015 (2015-03-07) (BIFF)
  • March 27, 2015 (2015-03-27) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$135 million[3]
Box office$25.9 million[3]

Home is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated buddy comedy film[4] produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is based on Adam Rex's 2007 children's book The True Meaning of Smekday and stars Rihanna, Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez, and Steve Martin. Tim Johnson is the director of the film, Chris Jenkins and Suzanne Buirgy are its producers, and the adaptation is by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. The film was released in theaters on March 27, 2015.[5]

Plot

An optimistic yet inept[4] alien race called the Boov led by Captain Smek[6] (Steve Martin) invade the Earth to hide from their mortal enemy and make it their new home.[7] Convinced that they are doing humans a favor, they begin to relocate them to Australia[8] (as opposed to the book, in which they relocate them to Arizona). A resourceful teenage girl named Tip (Rihanna), manages to avoid capture.[8] When on the run and looking for the location of her mother Lucy (Jennifer Lopez), she is accompanied by a banished Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons) who has accidentally notified his people's enemies of their whereabouts.[7]

Voice cast

The Boovs are voiced by Stephen Kearin, Brian Stepanek, Lisa Stewart, and April Winchell.

Production

United States president Barack Obama visited DreamWorks Animation in November 2013, where he met with Steve Martin and Jim Parsons who were recording lines for the film.[10]

In 2008, DreamWorks Animation optioned the book's rights to adapt it into an animated feature film. On his blog, Adam Rex announced that DreamWorks renewed the option of the adaptation in 2011.[11][12] On June 20, 2012, it was revealed that the title of the film would be Happy Smekday!, Jim Parsons and Rihanna would star in the lead roles, and the film would be released in fourth-quarter 2014.[7] In September 2012, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation announced the release for November 26, 2014.[5] In June 2013, the film was retitled from Happy Smekday! to Home.[13]

On October 3, 2013, it was announced that Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez had joined the cast of the film.[8] On May 20, 2014, the film's release date was pushed back to March 27, 2015, switching places with DreamWorks Animation's other film Penguins of Madagascar.[14] Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation's CEO, reasoned that Penguins, coming from one of DWA's most successful franchises, would have an easier task to stand out during the Thanksgiving time, while Home will try to take advantage of less competitive spring release window and repeat successful spring launches of some of DWA's original films, including The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon.[15]

Soundtrack

In addition to her voice role, Rihanna created a concept album for the film (also titled Home) which was released on March 24, 2015.[16][17] It consists of 8 original songs.[18]

The soundtrack's lead single, Rihanna's "Towards the Sun" was premiered on BBC Radio 1 on February 24, 2015[19] and it was made available for digital download the same day via the iTunes Store.[20] It will be sent to contemporary hit radio in the United States on March 17.[21] The second single, "Feel the Light", recorded by Jennifer Lopez, was released on February 25, 2015 via the iTunes Store.[22]

Release

A 4-minute short film called Almost Home was attached to theatrical showings of DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman in early 2014[23] and 20th Century Fox's Rio 2 that same year.[24] It was directed by Todd Wilderman,[23] and features a score composed by Lorne Balfe.[25] The short shows The Boov and their leader Captain Smek in a sequence of unsuccessful attempts at finding a hospitable planet, before they finally come across the Earth.[26] The film premiered at the Boulder International Film Festival on March 7, 2015.[27]

Reception

Box office

Home opened in the U.S. and Canada simultaneously with the comedy, Get Hard on March 27, 2015. Though the latter film earned more in its Thursday late-night run, estimates were showing that the former was heading to No. 1 in the weekend.[28]

Outside North America, Home was released in 10 countries on March 20, 2015, a week ahead of its U.S. premiere and earned $20.1 million coming in third place at the international box office behind Cinderella and The Divergent Series: Insurgent.[29] The highest openings were in the United Kingdom (taking the No. 1 spot with $9.12 million), Russia ($5.17 million), Australia ($2.42 million), and Spain ($2.24 million).[29]

Critical reception

Home has received mixed reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 48% approval rating, based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's consensus is "Colorful, silly, and utterly benign, Home is a passable diversion, but there's no shortage of superior animated alternatives."[30] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[31]

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter said, "There may be no place like home, but there are a lot of places like Home, an animated adventure about the unlikely friendship between a lonely girl and an alien misfit that can't help but feel familiar."[32] James Rocchi of The Wrap gave the film a positive review, saying "As animated sci-fi for small fry, it's a success whose modest but well-executed ambitions are no small part of its charm."[33] Stephen Whitty gave the film two out of five stars, saying "The Gummi-colored animation is imaginative, but director Tim Johnson's ho-hum 3D cartoon remains strictly 1D."[34] Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film two out of four stars, saying "The film moves quickly and keeps the jokes coming, which only means that Home would rather keep young viewers occupied than give them something to think about."[35] Ben Sachs of the Chicago Reader gave the film a negative review, saying "Aggressive and cynical approach to children's entertainment, pummeling viewers with mechanical-looking action sequences (which suggest video game demos), unfunny one-liners, and overly loud pop songs and sound effects."[36] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Key characters are admirably diverse, but the fast-paced tale is thoroughly predictable."[37]

Soren Anderson of The Seattle Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "It works moderately well thanks largely to the voice talents of Jim Parsons and, to a lesser extent, Steve Martin. Two droll dudes who put a fair share of funny into this animated picture."[38] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times called the film "A charming concoction with positive messages for younger children about conquering fears, understanding outsiders and knowing yourself."[39] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, saying "Tension is one of Home's biggest issues. There just isn't nearly enough of it. Story is another. Even a kids' movie needs more complexity and more invention."[40] Linda Barnard of the Toronto Star gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Aside from Parsons' initially amusingly mangled Yoda-like English, which gets a tad repetitive, Home doesn't stand out as fresh or particularly funny."[41] Dana Rose Falcone Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A-, saying "The combination of Home's layered message, fun score, and clever comedy make it a colorful choice for moviegoers of any age."[42] Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice gave the film a mixed review, saying "If director Tim Johnson -- adapting Adam Rex's book The True Meaning of Smekday -- can't do much with the story's confused, if well-intentioned, agenda, at least he's got some charming, vivid characters to work with."[43] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a C, saying "Anyone over 10 will see the plot twists a mile away. Kids will probably enjoy the goofy Boovs, the rainbows of colors and the music. Call me a traditionalist, but I still say the world was a better place before those darn Boovs invaded."[44]

Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a negative review, saying "From a creative standpoint, this is the studio's least exciting feature yet - hardly its worst, execution-wise, but entirely lacking in the risk-taking spirit that has spawned such successful franchises as Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Dragon."[45] Sara Stewart of the New York Post gave the film two out of five stars, saying "It’s refreshing to see a nonwhite lead, and the husky-voiced pop singer is likable as a brave-hearted kid searching for her mother. But man, is there a lot of Rihanna in this movie: She also provides what seems like the entirety of the film’s soundtrack, making it feel like a vanity project (is “vanimation” a thing?)."[46] Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic gave the film two out of five stars, saying "For all its energy, razzle-dazzle and whiz-bang technology, it doesn't know how to tell a simple story or cobble together three-dimensional characters, and that's a problem not even the best of 3-D glasses can fix."[47] Susan Wloszczyna of RogerEbert.com gave the film two out of five stars, saying "I kept thinking about Lilo & Stitch while watching Home, a decidedly disappointing effort based on the popular kid-lit book The True Meaning of Smekday from the already embattled folks at DreamWorks Animation."[48]

References

  1. ^ "Lorne Balfe Scoring DreamWorks Animation's 'Home'". Film Music Reporter. November 24, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  2. ^ "HOME [2D] (U)". British Board of Film Classification. February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Home (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved March 26, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  4. ^ a b "DreamWorks Animation SKG Management Discusses Q3 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". Seeking Alpha. October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013. Home is an outrageously funny buddy movie about a hilarious, yet inept, alien race and their equally inept invasion of Earth.
  5. ^ a b DreamWorks Animation (September 9, 2012). "New Distributor Twentieth Century Fox Unveils DreamWorks Animation's Release Slate Through 2016". DreamWorks Animation. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Dickey, Josh (October 3, 2013). "Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin Board DreamWorks Animation's 'Home' (Exclusive)". The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d "Jim Parsons and Rihanna to Voice DreamWorks Animation's Happy Smekday!". DreamWorks Animation. ComingSoon.net. June 20, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Intergalactic Memo - Subject: Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez". PR Newswire. October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Home - Characters". DreamWorks Animation. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  10. ^ Johnson, Ted (November 26, 2013). "Obama Tours DreamWorks Animation, Visits With Steve Martin and Jim Parsons". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  11. ^ Herreras, Mari (September 23, 2010). "T Q&A Adam Rex". Tucson Weekly. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  12. ^ Rex, Adam (November 16, 2011). "@delzey Yes, Dreamworks optioned SMEKDAY 3 yrs. ago, and renewed the option this year. If they make it I expect it'll be CGI. #kidlitchat". MrAdamRex. Twitter. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  13. ^ "Movie Title Changes". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  14. ^ "DreamWorks Animation Moves Up 'Penguins Of Madagascar' Bow, Bumps 'Home' To 2015". Deadline.com. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
  15. ^ "DreamWorks Animation SKG's (DWA) CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg on Q2 2014 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". Seeking Alpha. July 29, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  16. ^ Graser, Marc (February 25, 2014). "Rihanna to Make Concept Album for Upcoming Animated Movie". Variety. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  17. ^ "DreamWorks Animation SKG Management Discusses Q3 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". Seeking Alpha. October 29, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2014. Together with her world-class songwriting creative team, Rihanna has been collaborating with us for over the last 2 years to create an innovative musical movie event that features an entire concept album of brand-new songs and we couldn't be more excited about it.
  18. ^ Ellwood, Gregory (May 21, 2014). "Jeffery Katzenberg". HitFix. Retrieved May 30, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Trendell, Andrew (February 24, 2015). "Rihanna Returns with New Single 'Towards The Sun'". Giwise. Retrieved March 3, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "Towards the Sun (From The "Home" Soundtrack) - Single". iTunes. February 24, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Top 40 Mainstream Future Releases". All Access. Retrieved March 3, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Feel the Light (From The "Home" Soundtrack) - Single". iTunes. February 25, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ a b Amidi, Amid (March 10, 2014). "DreamWorks Promotes Upcoming 'Home' with New Short 'Almost Home'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  24. ^ Madison, Samantha (April 11, 2014). "MOVIE BLOG: Review – 'Rio 2'". The Sentinel Cumberlink. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  25. ^ "DreamWorks Animation's 'Almost Home' Features Music by Lorne Balfe". Film Music Reporter. March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  26. ^ Wieselman, Jarett (March 10, 2014). "Meet The Alien Stars Of DreamWorks Animation's New Movie "Home"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  27. ^ "RealD 3D Comes to Boulder Theater". Biff1.com. 2015-03-07. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  28. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro (March 27, 2015). "'Get Hard' Grabs $1.8M Thursday, Beats Preview B.O. For Kevin Hart's 'Ride Along'". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 28, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ a b Nancy Tartaglione (March 22, 2015). "'Insurgent' Tops Overseas Box Office; DWA's 'Home' Runs Up $20M – Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 23, 2015. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Home". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  31. ^ "Home Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  32. ^ Michael Rechtshaffen. "'Home': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  33. ^ "'Home' Review: Jim Parsons and Rihanna Team Up for Small Fry Sci-Fi". TheWrap. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  34. ^ "'Home' review: DreamWorks' aliens invade Earth". NY Daily News. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  35. ^ "'Home' review: Novel turned comedy". Newsday. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  36. ^ "Home". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  37. ^ Claudia Puig, USA TODAY (26 March 2015). "'Home' looks friendly, but all too familiar". USA TODAY. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  38. ^ "'Home': a close encounter with colorful aliens". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  39. ^ Neil Genzlinger. "Review: 'Home,' With Rihanna and Jim Parsons". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  40. ^ Los Angeles Times (26 March 2015). "Review: Quirky 'Home,' with Jim Parsons and Rihanna, keeps it too light - LA Times". latimes.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  41. ^ "Home is where the Boov is: movie review". thestar.com. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  42. ^ "'Home': EW review". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  43. ^ "New York : Home". villagevoice.com. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  44. ^ "Home - RichardRoeper.com". richardroeper.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  45. ^ Peter Debruge. "'Home' Review: DreamWorks' Alien-Invasion Comedy Barely Gets on Base - Variety". Variety. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  46. ^ "Rihanna, Jim Parsons space out in cliché animated flick 'Home'". New York Post. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  47. ^ "Review: 'Home' is slick but neither sweet nor dreamy". azcentral. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  48. ^ Susan Wloszczyna (27 March 2015). "Home". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
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