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A QUIET PASSION (12A) RAW (18) ONLY those with iron constitutions should consider this excellent French cannibal flick.
HOW’S this for a bit of inspired casting?
Alec Baldwin plays a ruthless, suit-wearing, egomaniacal, selfproclaimed business genius. He’s also a big baby.
And before he began spoofing Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live in the US, he lent his voice to this DreamWorks animation.
Sadly, the spookily spoton casting was one of the few things they got right in this bizarre animated comedy.
It’s based on a mildlyamusing illustrated book which became a popular gift for new parents.
Its single joke – that newborns are the bosses of their parents – was shared in a series of illustrations in which a baby acted up while wearing a tiny suit.
While that provided a few smiles for the sleepdeprived, it was never enough for an entire feature film.
So, after snapping up the rights, DreamWorks’ army of writers was tasked with reverseengineering a story from the opening page.
This is what they came up with – babies aren’t born, they are made in a magical factory.
Most of them are sent to families.
But the bossier ones are assigned to a secret corporation run by ruthless business babies who never grow up because they drink magical milk.
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As Baby Corp is in the cute industry, its biggest rival is Puppy Co, which is about to dominate the market with the launch of a never-aging pet.
Luckily, two Puppy Co workers are married and expecting a baby. If Boss Baby (Baldwin) can pull off some industrial espionage he’ll get the highest high chair in the company.
To be fair, this dense mythology does explain the book’s first drawing, which shows a briefcasepacking baby in a suit getting out of a taxi outside a family home.
But it does pose another question – what the hell are they smoking these days at DreamWorks headquarters?
There are a few movie references for parents and some well-honed slapstick for children.
But both audiences will spend more time scratching their heads than holding their sides. CITY OF TINY LIGHTS (15) THE great Riz Ahmed feels slightly miscast as a bourbon-swigging, chain-smoking private eye who gets caught up in a murky conspiracy in London.
Updating the film noir and giving it a multicultural twist is a great idea, but the likeable Ahmed lacks the grizzled edge of Bogart or Mitchum.
The script could have done with a couple more minutes in the pan if it hoped to stand up to its hardboiled predecessors.