Although it's usually at later stages in life that people go through identity crises, it's not uncommon for kids to experience their own version of just that. After all, feeling or fearing that they don't fit in with others seems to be a universal trait that most kids encounter at one or more points in their young lives.
How appropriate then that a kids film with that as its very theme would suffer from an identity crisis of its own. I'm talking about "Racing Stripes," a kid based dramedy that's been culled from so many sources that it has no idea what it is or wants to be. The tale of a "teenage" talking zebra who thinks he's a horse and is owned by a girl who wants to race him, the effort borrows, steals and otherwise recycles entire storylines or elements from so many films that it never feels original.
Considering that the farmyard animals talk and feature a young main character who's unaware of his native species, the obvious similarity is to the far superior "Babe." The "girl and her horse" bit is reminiscent of "National Velvet," while her one parent angle will also remind many of most Disney kid stories.
There's the misunderstood teen subplot -- complete with bullies, a love interest and even a nighttime "drag race" -- as well as the to-be-expected poop and fart jokes that kids seem to love and Hollywood seems more than willing to feed them. And much of that's delivered by an animal-based comedy duo such as found in various animated films.
While the result may very well entertain its young target demographic and isn't without its occasional decent, charming or slightly funny moments, director Frederik Du Chau ("Quest for Camelot") and novice screenwriter David Schmidt never make all of those elements feel congruous.
It's hard to tell if the original idea started out that way or if the result came from too many cooks in the kitchen doing the committee approach thing, but the massive combination of elements just doesn't gel. At one moment, there's the girl and her zebra drama, then the talking animal bits, followed by the scatological material, some mobster-related humor and then back again in any number of uneven combinations. The result is that anyone outside the targeted viewer group will easily see and feel those seams. In effect, this is a cinematic Frankenstein cobbled together out of dissimilar bits and pieces of old kid entertainment offerings.
Don't get me wrong -- I have nothing against films aimed at young viewers and think there should be more of them. But not if they're like this effort that again proves that they just can't make live-action, kid-based films anywhere near as good as their computer-generated brethren.
Although it has nary an original bone in its body outside of the zebra twist and is filled with clichés and the like, the "best" part of the film is the father/daughter relationship embodied by Bruce Greenwood ("Being Julia," "The Core") and Hayden Panettiere ("Raising Helen," "Remember the Titans").
Perhaps that's because it feels as if it were the original story before the cooks and committee meddling. Whatever the case, that part of the film works moderately well even if Wendie Malick (TV's "Just Shoot Me") is way too over the top -- but unfortunately not far enough into the Cruella De Vil camp territory -- as the obligatory villain with whom they must contend.
The talking animal bits -- while sporting name vocal talent including the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Fred Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy and a surprisingly underused Snoop Dogg (playing, natch, the farm bloodhound) -- aren't as successful. The writing is mostly at fault there (for every "we stopped talking Latin when the pigs left" line, there are many more that fall flat), but so is Frankie Muniz's (the "Agent Cody Banks" films) voicing of the zebra. Intentional or not, the character isn't likable enough and that steals a lot of that element's thunder, although the overall vocal animal part will obviously appeal to young kids.
That also holds true for the crude humor -- courtesy of Joe Pantoliano's ("Daredevil," TV's "The Sopranos") dive-bomber pelican and David Spade's ("Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," "Joe Dirt") flatulent happy fly who, along with Steve Harvey's ("Johnson Family Vacation," "You Got Served") fellow pest, enjoys breaking into song before a dining dip into some fresh animal droppings. Yes, a little of that goes a long way, but the film keeps piling it on to the point that even some kids might beg for mercy.
If only as much effort had been put into paring down or at least making the film's many incongruous story elements mesh together better. While it earns a few points for trying to entertain the young ones, "Racing Stripes" stumbles long before the finish line and only places as a 4 out of 10.
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