I was racking my brain a bit writing this review but I came to the conclusion you shouldn’t think about Boss Baby too deeply. After all, it’s still an animated movie with an outrageous premise. You have 7-year-old Tim Templeton (Miles Christopher Bakshi), an imaginative only child of two doting parents voiced by Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow. He suddenly finds himself with a baby brother who arrives via a taxi and comes in wearing a suit and carrying around a briefcase. No explanations at first.
The entrance of this “Boss Baby” shocks Tim not just by his sudden appearance but also with the knowledge the baby provides about how babies actually come into the world. In this whimsical world, babies are manufactured and not born by Baby Corp. A select few, like Boss Baby, are selected as part of “Management” when they display certain characteristics while they’re being “made.” They then head Baby Corp., a company that seems to put the interests of babies first. It’s absurd but funny to watch.
Boss Baby didn’t just drop into Tim’s house on a whim, too. As the young boy finds out, he’s on a mission to protect Baby Corp. You see, in this world, the love for babies are being taken by puppies. And Boss Baby wants to see what he’s up against. To do that he wants to infiltrate Puppy Co., where Tim’s parents work as part of their marketing team.
Tim finds himself having to cooperate with Boss Baby to get his family back. Tim has been led to believe that like how puppies are eating away at the love for babies, then love for him is being taken away by his new baby brother. We know it’s not exactly how relationships work in real life but with a suit-wearing baby that throws money at every problem he encounters, we can’t really argue for how factual Boss Baby can be.
This Tom McGrath film has a bunch of funny and adorable moments but it’s not something that will have you laughing out of your seats all the time. I’ll still concede that it’s an entertaining film. Alec Baldwin seems to be in his element as he plays an infant version of bossy bosses he’s played in the past. And despite it’s absurd premise, there’s something very relatable about Boss Baby, especially if you’re an older sibling who has suddenly found yourself with a younger brother and sister that you think will take all the attention away from you.
Boss Baby still has heart in it and a moral lesson about family and sibling love. If you can scrape away at its over-the-top scenario, you’ll be able to appreciate that. It might need a bit of explaining for the youngins you take to this movie, though. Also, good luck trying to explain to your young kids where babies come from. Some of the humor will fly over their heads (and over yours, too).
Boss Baby is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
