What do you do with a pet silverback gorilla? Need we ask how one gets a pet silverback gorilla? The film kind of explains how Ivan (voice of Sam Rockwell) became an orphan, but didn’t quite elaborate on how an African baby Silverback Gorilla ends up as a housepet in suburban Seattle. I feel like there ought to be a step or two between these things. Am I wrong?
It doesn’t matter… well, except for the fact that this is based on a real life story. Then it might matter a little. When we are introduced, Ivan is the star act of a circus that is housed in a mall. And it’s failing, because in the movies, all circuses fail; that’s what movie circuses do. It seems like the overhead is pretty low (comparatively)…Mack (Bryan Cranston), the owner of the mall circus, employs all of two people, and keeps all the animals in pens behind the Baby Gap. It takes a fair amount of hay to feed the elephant, I suppose, but as the place has no jungle cats, there’s no need for fresh meat 24/7.
At the start of the film, the circus is all about Ivan, who shows up on cue to beat his chest and read poetry or whatever. Of course, this Ivan actually could read poetry; the CGI is near flawless in making us believe the gorilla thinks and talks like a resident of the Pacific Northwest; I’m surprised there isn’t a poster of Nirvana or Russell Wilson in his enclosure. And Ivan knows it’s on him to save the circus.
I see Disney still had a bunch of circus crap left over from the live action remake of Dumbo, like a top hat, baby elephant, waist coat, center ring, and Danny DeVito. I would love to see the full list of overlap employees between this film and the live action Dumbo; personally, I’d bet there were dozens of Disney folks who worked both films.
Despite its relative newness, The One and Only Ivan seems like it’s been around for years. For me, this feeling comes from the fact that Bryan Cranston has looked age 5
5 for three decades and secondly because I think everybody in this century knows the mall is a bad place for a circus/zoo.
The film was not without problematic dialogue. When exploring the tragedy of Ivan’s past, which includes his parents being hunted for sport, The One and Only Ivan defensively reminded us “NOT ALL HUMANS ARE BAD!” While this statement is reflexively true, it should send shudders down the spines of modern viewers. The pleaded aggressive construction of “NOT ALL ________ ARE _______” comes directly from the Deplorable Apologists Handbook; it’s right after the Chapter entitled “ALL LIVES MATTER.”
The One and Only Ivan is heart-warming, uplifting, and occasionally amusing. Would you expect any less from Disney? I say this much: Ivan was a far simpler film, but I liked it better than Dumbo. Clearly, the film is far from perfect, but I’ve seen what your family watches – they can do worse. A lot worse.
Let me tell you of Ivan the Gorilla
Who ruled his backstage mall villa
So smart was this ape
Why did he not escape?
Because, m’dear, that’s just plain silla
Rated PG, 95 Minutes
Director: Thea Sharrock
Writer: Mike White
Genre: What to do with a pet gorilla
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Future vegans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Owners. Owners of anything
