Deu Zebra!

Although the humor is a bit sophomoric and the story predictable, Racing Stripes had my 7 and 9 year old grandsons giggling. Since they are probably the target audience, the movie was successful. I am more concerned when Hollywood inserts unnecessary inappropriate language into an otherwise suitable movie to satisfy someone's idea of reality or sophistication. Please refer to the "Francis the Talking Mule" films which were admittedly cheesy, but rather hilarious. I recently saw one for the first time in over 40 years and realized it was still funny. A key element in a movie of this type is to have good people (or animals) to root for.

Racing Stripes tries to be like Babe, hoping to connect to audiences like the 1995 film had done. The new film has many of the same qualities, but it isn't as fresh, as witty, or as affecting as the pig starring film was. The concept of making animals talk is always tricky, and, for the most part, director Frederik Du Chau pulls it off. The animals' mouths move in a believable fashion, and the vocal cast is first-rate. The fault lies in the script), which doesn't believe that the animals have much worth saying to adult audience members. However, for the right demography (I am guessing pre-teen girls) this would be a nice film to sit and watch.

Not sure what those others are seeing or looking for in a movie... This is one of the best movies i have taken my two 12 year old's to in a long time. This movie was hilarious, it had jokes for all ages. At times you would hear the kids start laughing through the theater, but there were several time when the adults would start out the laughing. I laughed through the entire movie. My daughters have seen all of the other movies that this one is supposed to be copying, but (according to them) this is by far the best. This one will definitely be added to our DVD collection as soon as it become available!! Highly recommend this one for the whole family!!!

Is Racing Stripes a masterpiece? No, though I wasn't expecting it to be. Is it an abomination? Again, no. If anything, in my view it is just above average. It does have a predictable story, the characters are stereotypical, some of the script is a little cloying and unfocused and the film is too short. Conversely, Racing Stripes doesn't try to be any more than it already is. It is an inoffensive and charming film, which is what it promised, and I think it worked in that aspect. Some of it is sweet and fun, the film moves quickly, the soundtrack is infectious and the scenery and photography are gorgeous. Also the live action animation is great, and the acting while not award worthy is decent with Frankie Muniz particularly surprisingly good. Overall, it is a good movie, not great, but I was expecting worse. 6/10 Bethay Cox

A baby zebra (voice of Frankie Muniz) is accidentally left behind by a traveling circus and is found by a thoroughbred horse trainer, Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood). Nolan takes the zebra home, and his teenage daughter Channing (Hayden Panettiere) wants to keep him as a pet. She names the baby zebra Stripes. The farm is located near the racetrack and the zebra grows up believing that he is a racehorse. Stripes has a dream of racing the other horses at the track, and to get into shape, Stripes races the mailman in his truck. All the farm animals help Stripes and Channing achieve their racing dream. This is a cute movie made in the same framework as the movie 'Babe', where all the animals speak to each other. The horseflies Scuzz and Buzz (voices of David Spade and Steve Harvey) had some of the funniest scenes. This is a light hearted film that your children will like. Don't take the script too seriously or you will miss the fun. (Warner Brothers Pictures, Run time 1:34, Rated PG) (4/10)