It would be very easy to tear Harold and the Purple Crayon apart. It’s the latest film in that dumb trend of taking animated characters and bringing them into the real world, something totally absurd film with little merit on a technical level. As I sat through the last act, though, I realized something simple: I was happier while watching this than before I sat down in the theater. At the end of it all, this manages to be a fun theatrical outing and something worthy of more than blanket hatred.
Harold and the Purple Crayon Review
The insanity begins within the first ten minutes of the film. Harold and the Purple Crayon is based on a relatively popular series of 1950s picture books (you might recognize the one with the baby drawing purple lines against a brown background). It’s all about this baby (Harold) and his crayon (purple!). You’d think this would be difficult to adapt into live action, and it is!
After playing around in a nicely animated 2D world for a bit, where we’re introduced to Moose and Porcupine, two animal compatriots for Harold, Director Carlos Saldanha shows us how this could translate to the big screen: Zachary Levi tumbles out of a portal into a busy part in Rhode Island. That’s right, Harold has grown up and is now played by the 43-year-old Shazam star. Things only get weirder as the moose transforms into Lil Rel Howery and the porcupine to Tanya Reynolds, donning ridiculous purple hair.
It’s a lot to take in, but Saldanha does a good job of avoiding too much confusion by straying away from going into much depth about how this fun animated stuff translates to the real world. Harold gets right to work trying to find his “Old Man” (narrated by Spider-Man star Alfred Molina), using his magic purple crayon to draw whatever his mind can think of and bring it into the real world.
After accidentally getting into a wreck with Zooey Deschanel’s Terri, Harold and Moose find themselves on a new side quest – making her and her son Mel (Benjamin Bottani) happy. From there, we mostly follow the generic plot you’d expect. Harold and Mel get along and cause chaos, while Terri is only there to see the aftermath and none of the magic behind the scenes.
Then, we’re introduced to Library Gary, excellently played by Jemaine Clement. An aspiring fantasy author with a creepy streak, Gary is easily the film’s best part and a character who brings the movie from being pretty bad to genuinely fun. He goes on a mission to obtain Harold’s crayon to bring his world to life as revenge for those who rejected his writing.
On a technical level, there’s a lot to be desired here. The biggest piece of criticism I have, and something that consistently holds the film back, is that this is one of the flattest-looking films of the last few years. This film is about the power of imagination, but the result is often wasted because so much of it is shot like a Hallmark movie with improper color grading. It’s hard to love a film when it has such a weak focus on the visuals.
There’s a little to be desired from Levi’s performance as Harold. I wouldn’t have expected this to have many profound moments, and since Harold is a child who’s only lived in a world where he could do what he wanted, he doesn’t have much emotional depth. Still, some scenes serve as big emotional cornerstones that fall flat because Levi doesn’t seem that into it. Outside of the emotional stuff, Levi does a good job.
The supporting cast of Howery, Deschanel, Bottoni, and Clement are all pretty good. Howery is funny but mostly flat. Deschanel is somewhat unremarkable but perfectly serves her character as the straight woman to all the shenanigans. Clement is perfectly unhinged and hilarious in every scene. Bottani is one of the best in the whole film, though. He’s a great child actor with a bright future ahead of him.
Howery’s Moose is a great companion for Harold, but it’s a little shocking how terrible Reynolds’ Porcupine is. She drops into the world and spends most of the movie causing chaos as she tries to find Harold and Moose, and all of her scenes are terrible. They’re distracting at best and somewhat infuriating at worst. Led by a terrible performance, Porcupine doesn’t have a good joke to tell and would’ve been better off sticking around in the original 2D world.
The third act cranks things up. As Gary and Harold square off for a final fight, we’re given a look at what the rest of the film should’ve been. There are some twinklings of creativity throughout the brief 90-minute runtime, but Saldanha goes all out in a very fun finale. The film concludes on a somewhat generic note, but one that balances cliché with satisfaction.
Is Harold and the Purple Crayon worth watching?
The best way to see Harold and the Purple Crayon (if you don’t have any children, as you’re probably supposed to) is to take a friend. Go in with low expectations (God only knows how low mine were) and laugh at the dumb parts. Something magic might eventually happen as you realize it’s pretty easy to look past the weak acting, flat cinematography, and generic script. Sometimes, all that matters is having a little bit of fun, and for that alone, this is worth a watch.
Harold and the Purple Crayon is in theaters starting August 2.
6/10
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