Loving nostalgia can attach to the most inexplicable and least deserving recipients, which is about the only explanation for the existence of “Tom & Jerry,” a new feature extension of the cartoonish shorts. 1940s and 1950s (and endless TV reruns after that). They were simple, burlesque cat-and-mouse-hunting comedies; here the characters are mixed up uncomfortably, in the style of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, set in a New York City, where a quick con (Chloë Grace Moretz) makes her way to a job at a posh hotel in the in the midst of preparations for a high society wedding. Tom and Jerry are also guests at the property, although not invited. Shenanigans ensue.
Director Tim Story (of “Barbershop” and the horrid reboot of “Shaft” in 2019) and screenwriter Kevin Costello, reinvent Tom as a street musician wearing sunglasses, throw jokes referring to Drake, TI and TikTok , and fill the soundtrack with classic hip hop. It’s all sweat flop, a sad, desperate attempt to make Tom and Jerry the one thing they’ve never been: cool.
They weren’t rude either, which creates a certain tension with the demands of contemporary “family” comedy; the low point of the image finds an animated bulldog crouching and defecating in the middle of a crosswalk, prompting co-star Michael Peña (poor, poor Michael Peña) to shout, “How many burritos have you eaten?” ? ” The slapstick scenes de rigor for the characters in the title don’t even play, as the integration of animation and live action is so awkward that we feel like we’re watching special effects demos rather than gags.
Some of the performances are nice. Moretz is a lovely game, Peña is funny because Peña is always funny, and Rob Delaney is having fun with his difficult role as the hotel manager. But the laughs they generate don’t have much to do with Tom or Jerry; they were born from the characters and charisma of the cast.
There is some value to “Tom & Jerry”, however, in that it lays bare the unrecognized truth at the center of the entertainment industry’s undying loyalty to existing intellectual property. Simply put: Just because it was on TV when you were a kid doesn’t mean it was good.
Tom and Jerry: the movie
Classified PG. Duration: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters and on HBO Max. Please review the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies in theaters.
