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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, January 14, 2005

'Racing Stripes' cute, but can't break out of the pack

By Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette Journal

RACING STRIPES (PG-13) Two and One-Half Stars (Fair-to-Good)

"Racing Stripes" has a clever enough premise, but it isn't deep or funny enough to sit beside the true children's classics. That doesn't, however, mean it's beyond praise. Hayden Panettiere and Bruce Greenwood star for director Frederik Du Chau. Warner Bros. 105 minutes.

If in the world of talking animal movies, "Babe" is a 10, "Racing Stripes" scores a 6.5.

The film, which is the first feature-length effort by director Frederik Du Chau, has a clever enough premise, but it isn't deep or funny enough to sit beside the true children's classics. That doesn't, however, mean it's beyond praise.

In fact, small children should warm to the film because it is a carefully engineered mix of classic sports films and goofy, fish-out-of-water comedies. But for anyone who likes to see even children's movies demonstrate an extra dash of imagination, it's difficult to muster a better adjective than "cute."

When a circus crew accidentally abandons a baby zebra, farmer Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood) gives him a home. Nolan's daughter, Channing (Hayden Panettiere), is immediately captivated by the creature and names him Stripes.

Nolan used to train racehorses, but quit after his wife was killed in a riding accident. Scarred from the experience, he is overprotective of Channing, and doesn't let her ride anymore, despite obvious talent.

All this changes after Stripes arrives.

When people are seen in "Racing Stripes," the animal stars act as we would expect, but the moment humans disappear, we tap into a complex, animal social structure. Every creature, great and small, is able to communicate in a universal animal tongue. That means horses, chickens, goats and even flies can offer their thoughts, and they often do, compliments of a voice cast including Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Muniz, Steve Harvey, Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Foxworthy and Snoop Dogg.

Most of the talk centers on Stripes' dream of becoming a racehorse. He isn't as large as the thoroughbreds racing around the nearby track, but he is awfully fast. And because he is being raised on a farm, he has no idea he's a zebra.

Stripes' biggest setback is that Nolan won't allow Channing to ride him. So, he and his barnyard pals hatch a plan. The movie chugs on in similar fashion to most films in the talking-animal genre, with the animals showing their smarts so slyly that the humans don't quite catch on. Then, when Stripes is finally allowed to race, we head into standard sports film territory.

None of this is bad, mind you, it just isn't fresh enough to inspire awe.

Technically, the film is solid. The animals move their mouths at the appropriate times, making it look, more or less, like they are speaking words. What's more, the transition between shots of actual animals and animatronic creatures is seamless.

The animal trainers for "Racing Stripes" must have gotten a workout because the non-human cast is extremely entertaining, although it is upstaged by two computer-animated horse flies, voiced by Harvey and David Spade. Had all the dialogue in the film been as funny as the banter between these two, the movie might have overcome its been-there-done-that plot.

Alas, the jokes aren't as fast-paced and consistent as need be, so what's left is a picture that is charming but little more.

Rated PG for mild crude humor and some language.