While I wouldn’t call myself a regular viewer of Bob’s Burgers, I have seen enough episodes to basically have a feel for the show. The Belcher family are an eccentric bunch where patriarch Bob runs a struggling burger place while likewise dealing with his odd family. The animation is a little weird, but it looks like a couple more shows have come along since then in a similar style. Regardless, it’s the sort of show that a viewer can tune into the show sporadically and not miss much. It’s basically TV comfort food. If the sense of humor works for you, and it generally does for me, then it’s a nice place to visit from time to time as the Belchers struggle but generally stay afloat.
Anyway, it got a movie for some reason.
Summer is coming, and that means big things for the Belchers. Mopey pessimist father Bob (voice of H. Jon Benjamin) and optimistic mother Linda (John Roberts) think they may be able to get an extension on a bank loan that they took out to update their restaurant equipment. Deadpan teenage daughter Tina (Dan Mintz) is looking to get a summertime relationship with her crush Jimmy Pesto Jr (also Benjamin). Overly enthusiastic Gene (Eugene Mirman) has dreams of having a band he just made up play at the local amusement pier’s big anniversary festival. Scheming youngest daughter Tina (Kristen Schaal) is upset that some of her classmates think she is a baby since she always wears a bunny ears hat. It’s the sort of stuff that often happens on the show.
What may not generally happen is what comes next. Yes, the Belcher parents are as expected turned down when they ask for that extension, but then a sinkhole opens up in front of the restaurant, further complicating Bob’s efforts to sell any burgers at all, and that sinkhole won’t fill anytime soon since there’s a dead body in there. Said body is a murder victim, and the police soon arrest the Belcher’s eccentric landlord Mr. Fishoeder (Kevin Kline). But if he’s going to prison, that will probably ruin the Belchers too since they can maybe pay the bank but not the rent at the same time, and Fishoeder might have given them an extension. So, as Bob and Linda, with help from Bob’s best customer Teddy (Larry Murphy), do what they can to actually sell some burgers, the kids go off to find the real killer, particularly since Louise is convinced the actual killer is Mr. Fishoeder’s ne’er-do-well brother Felix (Zach Galifiankis). Both parents and kids will need to be successful to keep a roof over their heads. Can they?
Honestly, I have no idea why there had to be a Bob’s Burgers Movie, but it’s still amusing and fun. The Belchers do have a habit of breaking into song, and while I don’t think I would consider any of the songs here all that memorable, they do act to show that this is still recognizably a Bob’s Burgers story. There wasn’t really much of anything here that couldn’t run on prime time network TV, and aside from some animation that looks a bit more impressive in some places and includes some gags in the background, the whole thing plays out more like an extended episode of the show. This isn’t even like The SImpsons Movie which tossed a couple extra strong swearwords and a bit of cartoon nudity into the mix. There really isn’t anything in The Bob’s Burgers Movie that wouldn’t look like it couldn’t have been on the TV show.
And, quite frankly, that’s fine. The comedy of Bob’s Burgers is pretty unique for animation, much of it character-based as it is, and the characters are a good mix of weird and funny. This is a movie where the three kids will each have a personal fantasy of how they want their summers to go only for their fantasies to turn bad because of self-doubt. It’s one where characters don’t seem to get too upset when someone threatens to kill them, and an odd rich man will live in a treehouse mansion. It’s a movie that asks if a one-eyed man can wink. Did it need to be on a big screen? Well, maybe not, but it was a fun outing for me anyway.
Grade: B
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