I wonder what it says about me that one of my templates for quality Fatherhood is a thieving evil genius with a heavy accent and the body shape of an appliance plug? Probably that I’m a bit of a sap: Despicable Me, the new animated movie from Chris Meledandri's Illumintation Entertainment, and featuring the voice talents of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, and Will Arnett, pulls on the heartstrings in a very calibrated manner, but the phenomenal character design and spot-on casting give it enough charm that only a cynical moviegoer would begrudge the film its quota of “Awwww…”
Despicable Me is about an underachieving supervillain named Gru, who is well past his villainous prime. When I say Gru is a “villain” though, I mean that in the same way that Noynoy Aquino is a politician - villainy is simply Gru’s vocation, what he does for a living, not some sort of statement as to his inner character. His personality is more that of a down-on-his-luck small businessman, trying to keep the company afloat as he deals with an unruly labor force - the adorable Minions - and a lab assistant who is both more intelligent and more over-the-hill than he is (Dr. Nefario, an almost unrecognizable Russell Brand). Galvanized by the sudden appearance on the scene of a new villainous prodigy, Gru hatches an ambitious plan to secure his place in the pantheon of great villains, but he quickly becomes sidetracked by a more chaotic force: three young girls: Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Eisie Fisher) who come to live with him.
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