Neat comment on The Incredibles

[jenk]

So far, "The Incredibles" is the most talked-about movie of the fall, and not only in my house. On second viewing, it became clear to me that this latest Pixar offering, as coherent a piece of visual entertainment as anyone is likely to see this year, is in fact two movies, a split that is perfectly mirrored within the Incredible family itself.

For my sidekicks, it was an action-adventure organized around the thrill of having super powers, which is pretty much how Violet and Dash, the younger Incredibles, experience the story. For me, though, it was drenched in the pathos of encroaching middle age, and almost disarming in its realistic portrayal of aspects of married life - the fear that a spouse is cheating, the connection between sexual vitality and satisfaction at work - that are rarely broached with such honesty in live-action movies for mature audiences. It may offer a new definition of family entertainment: the whole family can see it together, and no two of its members will see it the same way.

-- A.O. Scott, writing in the NY Times