Saturday, November 12, 2022

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)

Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp

Story by Dean Fleischer-Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Nick Paley and Jenny Slate

Screenplay by Dean Fleischer-Camp, Nick Paley and Jenny Slate

Stars: (voices) Jenny Slate, Isabella Rosselleni, Dean Fleischer-Camp, Lesley Stahl, Andy Richter, Nathan Fielder, Jessi Klein, Jamie Leonhart, Conan O'Brien, and Brian Williams

People on Letterboxd had this movie on their minds for the longest time. It flew under the radar from me. Heard some rumblings that the movie is in consideration for Best Animated Feature Film. A live-action movie about an animated talking shell? Okay. This is sweet movie that has its flaws.

An amateur filmmaker Dean (Fleischer-Camp) rents out an airbnb after the dissolution of his marriage. He befriends a talking shell named Marcel (Slate). Dean wanted to make a mini documentary about Marcel and his life living in this vast house with multiple people coming in and out. Dean realizes that Marcel only has his grandmother, Connie (Rossellini), but his other family were accidentally taken by a previous tenant. A whole adventure begins to find a lost family.

Going into this movie, I didn't know what to suspect. There is a talking about shell with one eye and pair of shoes on. How do the shell pick up things with no hands? They dynamic between Dean and Marcel was sweet and genuine.

The biggest problem I had with this movie is that some situations felt telegraphed. The obvious foreshadowing. If you have picked up on the clues, then certain scenes don't have the emotional impact that Fleischer-Camp wanted you to have. That's a bummer.

Rating: 8/10

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