Free Jimmy

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.

I would be wasting my time and breath on explaining the trouble with critic reviews. This film was described as "insufficiently funny" -- I am not sure why it is listed as a comedy, but it is certainly not one. With that said; this movie is FANTASTIC! It has funny moments in the sick and twisted fashion of life handing you lemons, however, it is beautifully and deliciously dark and twisted. VERY DARK, VERY WELL WRITTEN AND DIRECTED. Is this film for kids? NO. Is this film for teenagers, adults, and fans of good movies? YES! I hope this film finds it's English speaking market. I think the fans will love this film and I that one day it will reach the cult status it deserves. Great job!!

The problem with modern animation is that the first observations from commentors seem to be about the quality of the animation. It distracts, at least when the film is big budget.

The advantage of this sort of animation for me is that the filmmaker can go further into the extreme, can be more dramatic and large, more risky and imaginative, than the limits of humans and cameras allows. This film means more to me on that account than any of the Pixar projects, and I admire them greatly. But at the end of the day with them, they leave you were they found you, except for their experiments with depth and space.

this instead tries for something deeper, something that matters, the stuff that justifies theater.

The basic spine of this is the filmmaker's brother. He was a performer killed by drugs, like the titular Jimmy. Often violent and pitiful, once you know this fact, the portrayal of the elephant is pretty heartwrenching. Overlayed on it is a vehicle for Nordic humor: stuff an American audience will miss, both because the jokes are beyond us and because the English script is different. There are some engaging episodes here: funny, disgusting, poignant. They are the means used for transporting us, the tricks used to convince us into collaborating on maintaining an alternative world.

Its that world that works for me. Its a mix of the previously mentioned extremes plus three traditional forms. Its a conventional tragedy. Everything grinds toward the inevitable. But its a noir too. There are incredible coincidences brought on by the mechanism of watching. Its a closed world that produces unlikely twists and that captures people in a fate that is for our amusement. And it is folded. Usual folds are simple, with one viewer mechanism. Here there are many viewing agents, each one controlling some element of the noir (except the Norweigians, a joke). Hunters, Laplanders, some Russian circus punks, some animal rights terrorists, and a Moose.

All of these three: tragedy, viewer-incited noir and observer-folding reinforce the story of the lost brother.

This works. Its worthy.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Fritz the cat was one of the first 2D-animated cartoons for adults. Over twenty years later comes the first adult 3D-animated film. (For those of you who didn't already knew it, Nielsen is actually a big fan of Crumb)This is a film I've been waiting on for several years now. And I must say it was defiantly worth the wait. Director/writer Nielsen's film is controversial, tragic, violent and very funny. One of the best things of the film is the "ugly details" such as cracks on the walls, unclean skin, unshaved faces, blood shot eyes, rust marks on the cars etc. I also love the character designs, some of them have already appeared in Nielsen's comic books(Like the drug-users and the hunters) while there are some new ones as well. But all of them have a individual look and behavior and offers plenty of good lines and jokes. It would've been funny to see a sequel, but I highly doubt it will ever happen considering how much trouble and problems the filmmakers went through in order to finish this one.

The story's about the life of a junkie circus elephant and the filth of the human society who want to make money off him.

The movie is quite sad and will bring out emotions in the viewer which are normally not associated with animation. Animation does seem to be the right medium for this real-life inspired tragedy.

Its a tribute from the director to a brother who lost his life to drugs. Obviously once one knows the history this movie is borne out of, it becomes easier to appreciate the story.

Joachim Nielsen, rest in peace. If you are up there watching this, i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did.