If it weren’t for the pandemic, there would be a lot more new movies I would be seeing in theaters every week. However, we don’t live in that world at present, and movies I probably would have seen anyway or at least heard of seem to keep sneaking up on me. Take the Disney+ release The One and Only Ivan. There’s a part of me that strongly suspects I would have gone to see it theatrically were it not for the pandemic, or at least I would have seen the trailer before other movies I did see. Instead, well, I wasn’t even really aware it existed. And yet, here it is.
That doesn’t mean it is particularly good or bad. And it’s not like I plan to pay $30 to see the live action Mulan any time soon, but here’s something on a service I have prepaid for for three years, so I might as well see it while I can.
Silverback gorilla Ivan (voice of Sam Rockwell) has spent much of his life in captivity, most of it working for a small animal act run out of a shopping mall. The mall and the circus act are both owned by Mac (Bryan Cranston), a well-meaning man who is trying to make ends meet while demand to see his show has been steadily dropping. Ivan is the show’s star, and all he really does is lope out, roar a bit, pound his chest, and scare the audience. By his own admission, Ivan isn’t a particularly angry fellow. He enjoys the limelight and considers what he does acting. Between daily performances, Ivan enjoys the company of other animals such as older elephant Stella (Angelina Jolie, who also acted as executive producer), performing poodle Snickers (Helen Mirren), and trained seal Frankie (Mike White, who also wrote the script and has a silent cameo as a surprised driver). There’s also a stray dog eventually named Bob (Danny DeVito because of course Danny DeVito is in there somewhere) that Mac wants out but the other animals seem to like, especially Ivan, Bob’s best friend.
However, attendance is down, and Mac needs the income to stay afloat and keep feeding his animals. To that end, he gets a hold of a baby elephant named Ruby (Brooklynn Prince) to be his newest attraction. Stella is getting old, and when she passes, she asks Ivan to get Ruby out because Ruby should not spend her life in this circus. Ivan, who has never really known much else beyond life with Mac, does take a shine to Ruby early on, especially when it becomes clear Ruby isn’t interested in performing. What can Ivan do for Ruby and, for that matter, himself?
Now, all things being equal, The One and Only Ivan is…fine. Unlike the disaster that was this year’s Dolittle, The One and Only Ivan doesn’t have its animal characters acting “hip” or spouting off pop culture references that don’t fit the time period. There’s a gentle tone, similar to what I’ve seen of other scripts by Mike White. But likewise, there’s nothing really special about it. Cranston always brings his A-game, and Rockwell gives a good voice to a gentle ape that has to remind himself he’s a silverback in the same way some human males might push out their gender as a way of doing something macho or heroic. The CGI animals look OK and all, but there is something here that, while it probably won’t bother kids, may not get past more discerning adults.
See, Ivan’s story is based on a children’s book that itself was based on a true story. The real Ivan was rescued by poachers and raised for a few years by a well-meaning couple who couldn’t care for an adult gorilla, so they gave him to a mall to live for 27 years in a 14 by 14 foot enclosure, only finally getting outside when protesters demanded hard enough and Ivan was transferred to a zoo. Mac, as a character, is not portrayed as a bad man. Aside from Bob, he does care about his animals. He never verbally or physically abuses them. The problem is he really should have never taken Ivan in in the first place, let alone started a zoo with an African elephant or two. These are wild animals, and while the script suggests Ivan was largely content with his life, and that there weren’t many options after he was found alone when poachers killed his father in the wild, there is the underlying problem of ill-equipped humans, no matter how well-meaning, taking in wild animals.
Granted, this is a children’s movie, and while The One and Only Ivan does somewhat try to thread that needle, it is perhaps far too complex an issue for a movie aimed at children. As such, while I don’t think kids will object to it too much, it’s trying to do more and adults might notice and see those problems as glaring weaknesses. I know I did.
Grade: C
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