Free Birds is the story of a ragtag team of turkeys who go back in time to the first Thanksgiving in an attempt to take their kind off the menu. If you’re thinking that a movie about time-traveling turkeys sounds absurd, you would be correct.
Reggie (Owen Wilson) was a pariah in his flock before being chosen as the bird pardoned by the president and taking up a cushy lifestyle eating pizza and watching Telemundo at Camp David. Before long, though, he’s kidnapped by Jake (Woody Harrelson), who’s on a mission from “The Great Turkey” to go back in time and save turkey-kind from their terrible fate.
And wouldn’t you know it, there just happens to be a time machine beneath Camp David. After causing a ruckus in the secret underground compound (one of the funnier sequences in the film), they make it to the time machine (named S.T.E.V.E. and voiced by Star Trek’s George Takei) and are transported to the year 1621. There, they team up with a tribe of turkeys (because, yes, they are styled as Native-Americans) fighting for their lives against the Pilgrims, led by the overly sinister Miles Standish (Colm Meaney), who are hunting them for the first Thanksgiving feast.
Although Reggie develops a fancy for the chief’s daughter, Jennie (Amy Poehler), things are not all hunky-dory with the tribe. In particular, Jake and Ranger (Jennie’s brother) constantly compete in ever more bizarre (and admittedly hilarious) contests to establish their position as the alpha male.
As strange as it may seem for an animated movie, my biggest criticism of Free Birds is the total lack of realism. Obviously, animated movies are known for their fantastical elements — talking animals, hello — and, of course any movie with a time-travel element will meet with such criticism. But that’s not what bothered me. Instead, it was the little things, like the pardoned turkey living in the house with the president and his daughter, a turkey ordering a pizza, or a New England turkey with a Spanish accent. These quirks are meant to be funny but they really just left me thinking, “Well, that’s weird.”
The ending is by far the most bizarre thing in the whole movie, but by that point I assume the filmmakers just thought, “Why not?”
All this isn’t to say the movie is too bizarre to enjoy. Free Birds has many laughs and the voice work is admirable (though director Jimmy Hayward doesn’t utilize Amy Poehler nearly enough). I also like that this is a Thanksgiving movie; it’s about time someone filled that gap (and not with one of those huge ensemble Rom-Coms). Also, stick around as the credits roll for one final joke before leaving the theater.
Although I doubt Free Birds has the staying power of a Pixar flick, it certainly isn’t a cookie cutter story, and families will undoubtedly enjoy it. Especially the weird families.
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2013.