bad harvest
The reluctant hero of “Open Season” is Boog (Martin Lawrence), a tame bear who has been so mollycoddled and pampered by ranger Beth (Debra Messing) that he’s lost all his animal instincts. Living in Beth’s garage, Boog enjoys the life of an average suburban slob until Elliot (Ashton Kutcher), a hyperactive deer, decides to “help him escape.”
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The pair end up trashing a convenience store, and after Elliot sabotages one of Boog’s performances at a local animal reserve, Beth decides it is time for Boog to return to the wild. In the forest, he meets a tribe of Scottish chipmunks led by McSquizzy (Billie Connolly) along with the standard set of loveable fluffy characters used in nearly every other CG animation flick. Sony Pictures has tried to follow the recipe for success rather than develop the genre with “Open Season.” There is nothing at all new about the picture. The idea of domesticated animals lost in the wild has been used in “Madagascar.” The fast-talking uber-irritating sidekick is a cliche that harks back to “Shrek,” and has since been used in “Ice Age,” “Madagascar” and just about every other CG film you can think of. Any fan of computer animation will have a ball picking out where the filmmakers have borrowed each of the comic devices in “Open Season.” Which animated films contain an animal getting high on coffee? An animal with a scatological sense of humor? But originality gripes aside, “Open Season” has followed a formula that does bring results. The characters are well-drawn, in both senses of the word, and the plight of the clueless Boog arouses our interest and sympathy. The film lacks the visual wit of “Ice Age” or the dramatic sophistication of “Over the Edge,” but you could do far worse than “Open Season” for harmless family fun. | 
