The One and Only Ivan

There are times the family-friendly slapstick comedy and heavy messaging about the heartbreak of animals in tight, dark, cold captivity don’t exactly mesh. But the visuals are truly impressive and the story has an uplifting arc, and oh do these actors have fun hamming it up.

It helps that the voice cast is spot-on, that the animals themselves – none real, all CG – are seamlessly rendered and that Cranston underplays a character who could be much broader, funnier and less affecting.

Jolie, who also serves as producer along with Brigham Taylor and the late Allison Shearmur, invests her fragile pachyderm with a gentle, world-weary wisdom, while Cranston makes you feel his world crumbling beneath him in a performance that could have easily flirted with cartoon villainy in less accomplished hands.

Mostly The One and Only Ivan consists of fairly standard Disney lessons, about the hardships of losing parents (real and surrogate) and how difficult it is to embrace change.

Like a novice juggler struggling to master some complicated tricks, The One and Only Ivan tries to encompass several different stories, themes, and ideas while appealing to adults and very young kids at the same time. It’s a tough feat to pull off — an uneasy mix of lofty notions about freedom and dog fart jokes — which the film only sporadically succeeds in achieving.

It’s cute and heartfelt at times, though the adventure by director Thea Sharrock (“Me Before You”) can’t decide between being a fun-filled romp or an animal-rights drama.

The One and Only Ivan has within it a much more interesting film waiting to break out that really could have been for the whole family, but alas it is trapped within the cement walls of Disney’s cookie-cutter formula.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Lovely family film. It will make you cry and also smile. A classic Disney film with a beatiful message

This is a touching and kind story that we lacked to see. I'd say this is one of the samples of good old Disney I missed for so long.

Slow paced family friendly visual effects heavy drama told from the perspective of a pack of circus performing animals as they seek freedom to return to the wild. The effects are superb but the screenplay and casting are average at best. The stakes are low and there is never really any tension to show the kind of psychological trauma animals in captivity experience. Instead this is downplayed showing a very child friendly version with a feel good hollywood happy ending. I couldn't help but wish for a more impactful and dramatic version of this movie.

A family movie with a little well message to the kids, but a little bit boring.