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Sing (2016 American film)

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Sing
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGarth Jennings
Written byGarth Jennings
Starring
Edited byGregory Perler[1]
Music byJoby Talbot
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • December 3, 2016 (2016-12-03) (Microsoft Theater)
  • December 21, 2016 (2016-12-21) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75 million[2]
Box office$72.7 million[2]

Sing is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment.[3] It was directed and written by Garth Jennings and co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet.[1] The film stars the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly.

The film has more than 85 classic songs from famous artists and also has an original song by Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande called "Faith".[4] It was released by Universal Pictures on December 21, 2016 and has grossed $72 million worldwide.

Plot

In a world of anthropomorphic animals, optimistic koala Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is the owner of a music theater, having been interested in show-business ever since his father took him to his first music show when he was a child. His assistant is a slightly senile green iguana named Ms. Karen Crawley (Garth Jennings), who has a glass eye (which pops out at times). Lately, Buster's theater is in financial trouble due to showing productions that have bombed, and his theater is in danger of closing down. Buster tells his friend, Suffolk sheep Eddie Noodleman (John C. Reilly), that he will try and save his theater from closure by hosting a singing competition, with the prize being $1,000, despite having only $935 in his briefcase; he places some random junk in a treasure chest for the winner to sell off to meet the $1,000.

Buster isn't the only one in a crisis, as other animals in the city have issues of their own. Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) is a talented singer, but has given up her dreams of performing to raise twenty-five unruly children and is constantly neglected by her workaholic husband, Norman (Nick Offerman). Meena (Tori Kelly) has a great singing voice, but has severe stage fright, causing her pushy grandfather (Jay Pharoah) to pressure her to face her fear. Mike (Seth MacFarlane) is a street musician who plays the saxophone but doesn't make easy money, prompting him to threaten people into giving him cheap profits. Johnny (Taron Egerton) is the son of mobster Big Daddy (Peter Serafinowicz) who wants him to follow in his criminal footsteps, but Johnny aspires to be a singer. Punk-rocker Ash (Scarlett Johansson) is in a band with her boyfriend Lance (Beck Bennett) who is critical of her rocking style.

While printing fliers for the competition, Ms. Crawley's glass eye causes her to accidentally print $100,000 as the prize money instead of $1,000. Before the fliers can be checked, they are accidentally blown out of Buster's office drawing lots of candidates around the city including Johnny, Meena, Ash, Rosita, and Mike. After holding auditions with a turnout greater than expected, Buster picks Mike, Johnny, Rosita, Ash, and a few others to be in the contest. Meena's stage fright causes her to bomb her audition, Lance is dismissed from the contest when he auditions with Ash, and Rosita is partnered with another pig contestant named Gunther (Nick Kroll) to be in a dancing routine. Soon enough, Buster discovers Ms. Crawley's error when Eddie shows him the flyer, but instead of telling the contestants of the mistake and of the true prize of $1,000, he tries to get enough money for the promised reward.

Convinced by her grandfather, Meena tries to get Buster to give her another audition, but due to some technical difficulties, she is hired as a stage hand instead and she and Buster perform unlawful and desperate tactics to keep the show afloat, like stealing electricity from another sign and taking apart some of the theater to repair some damages. After some of the animals quit, Rosita, Mike, Johnny, Gunther, Ash, and (eventually) Meena are the only ones left in the show. However, their individual problems begin to hinder rehearsals, such as Rosita floundering in her dance routine with the glory hog Gunther, Ash suffering from immense heartbreak when she thinks Lance cheated, Johnny inadvertently letting his dad be arrested during a heist in the shipping lanes, Meena's stage fright, and Mike owing money to a mob of bears when he cheats in a card game. Buster visits Eddie to convince him to get his grandmother Nana Noodleman (Jennifer Saunders) to host the reward money for the show. When they visit Nana, she accepts their offer, but in a snobbish manner. On the day Nana Noodleman comes, the bear mob who Mike earns the ire from comes and demands the money from Buster, but when they open the chest and see the random junk, the others turn on Buster for his deception. Before Buster can face anyone's wrath, a glass tank full of luminescent squids that Buster got for the theater shatters and floods the theater, evicting everyone from it. After Nana leaves in a huff, the theater literally comes crashing down.

Homeless and crestfallen, Buster takes up residence at Eddie's house. News of what transpired at the theater hits the airwaves and Buster is ridiculed, further diminishing his confidence. The contestants visit him and try to cheer him up, but Buster is too despondent to listen to them, so they leave. Buster tries to earn his keep by opening a car wash, using the same bucket that his dad used to pay for Buster's theater. Eddie, unwilling to see Buster so miserable, decides to stay and help his friend while reminding him of what Buster had told him before: "Once you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere else to go but up."

After hearing Meena sing in the remains of the theater, Buster's confidence is renewed and he reinstates the show, leading everyone (including Rosita and Meena's families) to come. Mike bails out when he learns that the prize money is omitted, but soon returns to show his stuff. Throughout their acts, Johnny, Rosita, and Meena amaze their families with Big Daddy breaking out of jail to reconcile with Johnny before returning, Lance getting a crush on Ash again after seeing her on TV and Mike being caught by the bears while being amazed by Meena's performance, just to be rescued by his girlfriend afterwards. The show becomes a success and Nana gives Buster money to buy back and rebuild the theater.

Cast

Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly, Taron Egerton, and Nick Kroll at the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Rosita and Norman's piglets are voiced by Oscar Jennings, Leo Jennings, Caspar Jennings, and Asa Jennings.

Directors Wes Anderson, Garth Jennings, Chris Renaud, and Edgar Wright appear in voice cameos amongst the additional voices.[11]

Production

In January 2014, it was announced that Garth Jennings would write and direct an animated comedy film for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment about "courage, competition and carrying a tune,"[12] which was originally titled Lunch,[13] and then retitled as Sing.[5]

On January 14, 2015, Matthew McConaughey was added to the cast to voice the lead role in the film.[3] Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy would be producers on the film.[3] On June 17, 2015, it was confirmed that McConaughey voiced Buster and John C. Reilly voiced Eddie, a black sheep and Buster's best friend, while Jennings was directing the film based on his own script.[6] In November 2015, it was announced that Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly, and Taron Egerton joined the cast for the film.[5]

Soundtrack

Main article: Sing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The soundtrack album for the film was released on December 21, 2016.

Release

The almost complete[14] film was screened as a work in progress on September 11, 2016, at the Toronto International Film Festival.[15] Universal Studios released the film on December 21, 2016.[16]

Reception

Box office

As of December 21, 2016, Sing has grossed $11 million in the United States and Canada and $17.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $28.3 million, against a production budget of $75 million.[2]

In North America, the film opened alongside Passengers and Assassin's Creed and is expected to gross around $70 million from 4,022 theaters over its first five days of release.[17] The film made $1.7 million from its Tuesday night previews.[18]

Critical response

On the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 72%, based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Sing delivers colorfully animated, cheerfully undemanding entertainment with a solid voice cast and a warm-hearted – albeit familiar – storyline that lives up to its title."[19] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[20] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[21]

From the Toronto International Film Festival, Stefan Pape, of the British website HeyUGuys, gave the film a mixed review of 2/5, stating that "Garth Jennings's Sing effectively acknowledges early on that it's following a completely unoriginal formula, and yet carries on regardless".[22]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Annie Awards February 4, 2017 Outstanding Achievement, Music in an Animated Feature Production Joby Talbot Pending
Golden Globe Awards January 8, 2017 Best Animated Feature Film Sing Pending
Best Original Song "Faith" – Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder and Francis Farewell Starlite Pending

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Felperin, Leslie (September 11, 2016). "'Sing': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Sing (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Kit, Borys (January 14, 2015). "Matthew McConaughey to Star in Illumination Animated Film (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  4. ^ Sadlier, Allison (September 9, 2016). "Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande collaborate on track for Sing movie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Truitt, Brian (November 10, 2015). "Sneak peek: A-list animals 'SING' together". USA Today. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Hopewell, John (June 17, 2015). "Annecy: Chris Meledandri on Matthew McConaughey as a Koala Legit Theater Owner, 'The Grinch'". Variety. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  7. ^ Yuen, Jenny (September 11, 2016). "TIFF 2016: Matthew McConaughey optimistic about 'Sing'". Toronto Sun. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Trumbore, Dave (November 11, 2015). "Meet the Animated Animals of Illumination Entertainment's 2016 Musical Comedy, 'Sing'". Collider. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  9. ^ Buxton, Adam (April 14, 2016). "EP.16 - Pub Walk With Garth Jennings". soundcloud.com. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  10. ^ "Sing - Full Cast and Credits". Hollywood.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  11. ^ Goldberg, Matt (October 26, 2016). "Directors Wes Anderson, Edgar Wright, and Chris Renaud Provided Their Voices for 'Sing'". Collider. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  12. ^ "'Despicable Me 3′ Set For June 2017 Release; 'Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas' Arrives Five Months Later". Deadline. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  13. ^ Hopewell, John (January 8, 2014). "France Fights Bidding War to Lure Hollywood Filmmakers". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2014. Universal now has "Max" and "Lunch" set up at Illumination MacGuff.
  14. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 5, 2016). "'Sing' Director Garth Jennings On Working With "Wizards," The Learning Curve Of His Feature Animation Debut". Deadline. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  15. ^ Hammond, Pete (August 23, 2016). "Universal & Illumination To Launch 'Sing' With Live Jennifer Hudson And Tori Kelly Performances At Toronto". Deadline. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  16. ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 15, 2014). "Universal Dates 'Despicable Me 3,' New 'Grinch Who Stole Christmas'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  17. ^ "Will 'Rogue One' Vanquish The Christmas B.O. Competition?". Deadline.com.
  18. ^ "'Sing's' Box-Office Debut Tops 'Assassin's Creed,' 'Passengers' in Tuesday Night Previews". The Hollywood Reporter.
  19. ^ "Sing (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  20. ^ "Sing reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  21. ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  22. ^ "TIFF 2016: Sing Review - HeyUGuys". Retrieved September 21, 2016.
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