Perfect cast and a good story

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating...and learns a lesson about family himself. Cute, Fun and packed with well written characters and terrific computer animation 'Over the Hedge' proves that when he wants to Bruce Willis can make good movies and this is definitely one of them. It's just a blast from start to finish and very entertaining as a whole plus i remember playing the videogame back in the day. (10/10)

With an eclectic cast of zany characters and a sort of selfish, but eventually not, lead (who has an oddly Bruce Willis-like charm about him), this Dreamworks animation retains its own sense of identity and a distinctly non-grotesque visual style that sets it apart from others of its ilk. 'Over The Hedge (2006)' has a standard story with standard themes and standard presentation, but there's entertainment to be had and some nicely done character development amidst all the silly humour, as well as some decent voice-work (Steve Carell as a hyper-active squirrel, who's essentially 'The Flash' or 'Quicksilver' too, is a brilliant choice) and the odd bit of slapstick gold. 6/10

RJ the raccoon (Bruce Willis) is a schemer. When he finds the bear's stash of food, he tries to steal it. However things go wrong, and everything is lost. Now the bear expects RJ to replace the lost or else. RJ finds a group of scroungers, and plans to use them to get food from the surrounding suburbs.The animation is a bit blocky, but it's an acceptable level. There is a lot of slapstick humor. It's like a Looney Tunes cartoon at times. The one thing that is missing is a break out character or two. Maybe there are too many characters. Maybe the characters look too generic. For an animated movie like this, it's always better to have a break out character. There are opportunities to add characters in any follow up sequels.It's a perfectly fine slapstick animated comedy. The problem is that it doesn't stand out. There are great comedic voice work especially from the unique Wanda Sykes. But it's not enough to warrant any follow up to this.

This reviewer has seen more animated features -- we used to call them full length cartoons but, by the same token, we used to use phones the size of toasters with rotating dials on them -- than he cares to count. Some good. Some awful. Some great. But of that number there is only one that beckoned, enticed, and entreated me to watch it over and over. This is the film. I have seen it 6 times at least and have yet to get bored with it. It also makes me laugh out loud, and, from memory the only other time I can recall doing that was 1974. I love the way the story builds. I love the way the characters are developed. I love the fact that Gary Shandling lent his voice to the "tentative" reptile (turtle) because, since his own show disappeared eons ago, we don't see or hear enough of him. I love the way they created a character that allows Shatner to virtually drown in self-mockery, over and over and over, yet it is so subtle that, unless you have indeed seen the entire original Star Trek series like, 13 times each episode, you would never ever get the joke. I love the way the whole notion of gated communities is taken to task. I love that this film gives Hayden-Church a chance to score points based on voice alone. But what I keep seeing in this film on each successive viewing is how Carell took the character of Hamilton the Squirrel (who to be fair does not get a lot of lines) and made him the star. Carell, BTW, is not only a comic, he is the real deal, an actor, and he has played dark parts. So, as the film reaches its apex, and, to save the day, a can of triple-caffeine soda is passed to Hammy, and Hammy says with a giant stutter, "OHHH I am not supposed to drink THAT", I invariably fall off my chair in a spasm of laughter, and then bang my head on the coffee table. Time after time. What gets my goat is that they gave ELLEN an Oscar for basically playing a fish that was playing ELLEN, but ignored Carell for elevating this wonderful squirrel into one of the most memorable characters in film.