Who’s the Boss (Baby)?
Any parent who has brought a new baby home to an older sibling is familiar with the feelings of uncertainty about how things are going to go. But what if we could watch it unfold from the kids’ perspective?
The new DreamWorks Animation film, The Boss Baby, tells the story of seven-year-old Tim (voiced by Miles Bakshi) as he welcomes a new baby brother (voiced by the ever-charming Alec Baldwin) to his family. The storyline is based on an award-winning picture book by Marla Frazee.
Since our family has introduced a new baby to older siblings three times over, this was a movie all the kids in my family could relate to. As soon as we saw Boss Baby pull up at his new house in a taxi (wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase), we knew it was going have some plot twists to keep us hooked.
We all fell in love with Tim and his reluctant attempts to put up with his new brother’s antics (there’s a lot of toddler toilet humour to keep the giggles coming). But it doesn’t take long for Tim’s suspicions to set in. His parents may be fooled (and the movie does a great job of conveying the bleary-eyed days of early parenthood), but Tim is on a mission to figure out what this Boss Baby is up to, and he gets the feeling it has nothing to do with joining an actual family.
Eventually we figure out the back story of how Boss Baby arrived at Tim’s house as the plot reveals a magical conveyer belt that decides whether an infant will join a family (by laughing when tickled by a feather) or become part of the “management” team at BabyCorp, (by not laughing when tickled). It turns out being part of the management team means Boss Baby is actually a spy on a secret mission and wasn’t meant to be part of a family at all.
Once Tim figures out who Boss Baby really is, he has to decide whether to join forces with him to stop the CEO of PuppyCo, where both Tim’s parents happen to work, or turn his back on him and reveal the truth.
It sounds very confusing, but my kids had no problem keeping up with the plot and there were so many adorable babies and puppies to keep them interested in how to it would all turn out for Tim and his family. Adding to the plot twists are the delightful voices of Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow as Tim and Boss Baby’s parents. And Steve Buscemi lends his voice to the villain (who turns out not to be such a bad guy) and CEO of PuppyCorp.
The Blu-ray version of the film will be released on July 25th with bonus features, including deleted scenes and featurettes for added fun. Plus, there’s a cool, new Mini Adventure that takes you on a three-minute action-packed journey through time with Tim and Boss Baby. Here’s an exclusive look at some of that extra footage:
My kids aren’t familiar with Alec Baldwin’s comedic talent in his grown-up work, but they would agree that his voice and witty delivery are perfect for the pint-sized boss at the centre of this movie. And Tim’s sweet and forgiving personality (the adult version being voiced by Toby Maguire) is a perfect contrast.
Like any good family movie, there is a heartwarming message revealed in this film about the importance of family, as we watch these two brothers have each other’s backs. It resonated with the kids in my family and it will with yours, too.
This post is brought to you by The Boss Baby Blu-ray DVD but the opinions are our own.
