The Croods: A cartoon family that is more heart than head

We initially didn’t have high hopes for The Croods, an animated feature about a group of prehistoric cave dwellers whose lives are interrupted when the earth’s plates begin to shift. Wild man Nicolas Cage voices Grug, the family’s lunkhead father, and we all know how manic his recent performances have been. But it turns out, Cage is better heard than seen. He’s in fine form here as the family’s dim-witted leader whose cautionary approach to life has enabled the group to survive despite the constant threat of predators.

The story centers on Eep (Emma Stone), the family’s teenage daughter who doesn’t like the fact that they spend so much of their time holed up in a cave protecting themselves from the world’s dangers. When she meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a cave kid who seems to have half a brain, she convinces her father that they need to move or an earthquake will swallow them up. So the family — which also includes Ugga (Catherine Keener), Thunk (Clark Duke), Gran (Cloris Leachman) and Sandy (Randy Thorn) — hits the road, though Grug isn’t the least bit happy that young Guy seems to have all the good ideas. When they can’t walk across a sea of prickly shells, Guy suggests they wear shoes. When they’re having trouble finding dinner, Guy’s the one who shows them how to set a trap. Grug feels threatened and expresses his dislike for Guy on a regular basis.

Of course, we suspected Grug and Guy would patch up their differences by the film’s end, so it’s not real surprise when they make amends. And all the father/daughter tension that has been simmering throughout their journey finally comes to a head, too. But despite the lack of any real surprises, writer-director Kirk DeMicco, who co-directed  and co-wrote the screenplay (which is based on an original concept by funnyman John Cleese) with Chris Sanders, keeps the watcher emotionally invested. And while it’s probably not mandatory that you see the film in 3-D, the visuals do improve once the family leaves the desert and migrates to a brilliantly colorful (and dangerous) rain forest.