How a bear warmed America’s cold heart
Paddington 2’s character charms audiences with his unending kindness
You know how many children were seated in my row at a Friday showing of Paddington 2? Not one.
Sure, there were some kids up front and a few behind me who let out guffaws at choice moments. But readers, this was a theatre primarily filled with adults who had reserved seats to see a movie about a bear who wears a parka and loves marmalade.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised. The critical juggernaut, a sequel to 2014’s Paddington, surpassed fellow darling Lady Bird last week to become the best reviewed movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes. It has become somewhat of a meme on Twitter, and IndieWire critic David Ehrlich went so far as to rate Sundance films using a scale of Paddington images.
Its popularity even led Russia’s Ministry of Culture to postpone the movie’s release in an attempt to eliminate box office competition for a locally produced film. So why the passionate response? Perhaps it’s because for 95 minutes, the earnest bear warms our cold, cold hearts. You never stop rooting for Paddington, likely because he would never stop rooting for you. And maybe that benevolence is all we’re looking for.
The movie, directed by Paul King, follows the Peruvian bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) on his adventures through London, where he lives with the Brown family. He has charmed almost every neighbour with his exceeding kindness and his big mission is to buy his Aunt Lucy a rare pop-up book for her 100th birthday.
When washed-up actor Phoenix Buchanan, the villain brilliantly played by Hugh Grant, steals the book before Paddington can save up for it, you’re livid. How dare he hurt the bear we absolutely adore?
The police pin the crime on Paddington and he winds up in jail. But he manages to keep spirits up by introducing his fellow prisoners to Aunt Lucy’s delicious marmalade recipe and achieves the impossible by putting a smile on the face of resident grump Knuckles McGinty (Brendan Gleeson).
Paddington 2 can tell us a lot about how critical reception is perceived. The movie, a huge success in the United Kingdom, grossed a modest $15 million (U.S.) stateside during its opening over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend but then held steady, only dropping to $8.2 million in its second week.
Jeff Goldstein, who oversees domestic distribution at Warner Bros., told Deadline that “given the rare 100-per-cent Certified Fresh on RT as well as the A CinemaScore (given by audiences), we are encouraged for strong holds and a long play.”
It’s an odd statement to hear from a studio executive, considering the drama over Rotten Tomatoes that ensued late in the summer.
Several executives pointed fingers at the website for “the destruction” of the entertainment business, the New York Times reported, as it “hacks off critical nuance” and has “a seemingly loose definition of who qualifies as a critic.”
Tim Palen, Lionsgate’s president of worldwide marketing, commented on the website’s popularity to Deadline: “Rotten Tomatoes isn’t new, but its omnipresence is. The scores are even part of the local TV news on Friday going into the weekend.”
While our apparent addiction to Rotten Tomatoes bodes well for Paddington 2, it’s also confusing as heck. The movie holds the website’s record for the most Fresh reviews (169) without a single Rotten one. But the only reason Paddington 2earned this distinction is because one guy didn’t like Lady Bird.
So, even though the CGI bear won the popular vote, it’s worth asking: Is no one disliking a movie a sign of its greatness or does it just mean it’s inoffensive?
It might seem silly to compare it to other films that have been deemed one of the best of all time, such as Casablanca or Citizen Kane. But Rotten Tomatoes actually has a way to do that, via a list that is adjusted for the number of accessible reviews and doesn’t hold just a few negative reviews against you; and Paddington 2 shows up a pretty respectable No. 11, just above The Godfather.
Paddington could also win the British Academy’s vote. Though ineligible for this year’s Academy Awards, the film managed to land three BAFTA nominations earlier this month: Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor for Grant. This means our little guy is competing with the likes of Winston Churchill ( Darkest Hour), satirical Soviets ( The Death of Stalin) and the dysfunctional community of Ebbing, Mo. ( Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).
Grant, whose whimsical disguises in the film range from a nun to a bald businessman, called his BAFTA nomination “unusual” during an appearance on Good Morning America.
“It’s come out ridiculously well, this film,” he added. “It has a 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m the man who’s had 7 per cent.”
It could be that critics were just following Paddington’s example. Whenever he struggles to do what is right, he repeats a lesson from Aunt Lucy that we would all do well to remember: “If we’re kind and polite, the world will be right.”