Rango

Water is currency on the parched land, and Beans (Fisher) is the only one who suspects foul play is causing its shortage. When Rango’s tall tales earn him the role of sheriff, it’s up to him to help quench the town’s thirst for justice and prosperity.

Rango isn’t a particularly good—or honest—sheriff, though, and his quest to find some kind of identity proves more difficult than it first seems. He must battle birds and moles and Rattlesnake Jake (Nighy), as well as his own self-doubts.

While the laugh-a-minute ratio might not keep pace with recent Pixar and Dreamworks fare, the film is a loving tribute to classic Westerns, featuring a Clint Eastwood look-a-like as The Spirit of the West. And with Roger Deakins (True Grit, No Country For Old Men) serving as a cinematography consultant, the desert comes to vivid life.

Most of Verbinski’s choices, though, seem aimed at the moms and dads in the audience; I heard the grown-ups laughing at jokes like “it’s a puzzle, a real mammogram” as much as the young ‘uns responding to the physical comedy. Even the poster references the tripped-out Depp of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I was genuinely surprised my kids liked the film as much as I did, and none of the characters seemed cuddly enough for fast-food tie-ins.

It’s truly gritty, and that seemed to be what my kids (ages six to 12) loved about it. Kids don’t always need primary colors and fluffy bunnies and 3-D effects. Sometimes a scrawny, ugly chameleon in the dirty Old West will do.