Friday, 7 January 2022

VOD: Ron's Gone Wrong (dirs: Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine and Octavio E. Rodriguez, 2021)

"He doesn't blog, post or share!"
"Creepy."

This debut film from Locksmith Animation leans heavily on E.T. and Big Hero 6, as motherless and friendless middle-schooler Barney is desperate to get a 'Best Friend Out Of A Box', a robotic social-media-connected companion that everyone else has, but ends up with a damaged B-Bot as a birthday present, which Barney - ironically - has to teach about friendship and fitting into the world.  In spite of some jarringly broad-strokes comedy stereotyping in Barney's East-European grandmother, Ron's Gone Wrong is delightful, random, relentlessly wacky and unpredictable, with a sweet central story, thinly-veiled swipes at tech giants and the role of technology in young people's lives, and a lively, colourful style that engages from start to finish.  

 

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