Willis doesn't really sound like a raccoon he would make a better guard dog. With his flat, somewhat nasal intonation, Mr. (And over the hedge? Humans living in a ticky-tacky planned community in Anywhere, U.S.A.)
RJ sets out on his mission quickly, only to stumble on a gathering of animals faced with a terrifying new threat: a hedge that cuts them off from much of the rest of the woods. Having been roused from hibernation, and perhaps being naturally peckish, the bear threatens to kill RJ unless he replaces his goodies. The story opens with RJ, a devious raccoon voiced by Bruce Willis, stealing a stash of packaged sugar and carbohydrates from a bear, Vincent (Mr. That's particularly too bad since the recent alligator attacks in Florida prove that the story of human encroachment on animal turf is topical and rich in thematic possibility. The various writers, including Karey Kirkpatrick, who directed with Tim Johnson, pad the story with the usual yuks, allusions (there's a Rosebud moment) and some glop about family, but there is no poetry here and little thought. Although this tale about a group of woodland critters threatened by their new human neighbors (based on Michael Fry and T Lewis's comic strip) has the technical trappings of a worthwhile Saturday matinee - the hair on the animal bodies stirs when they do - no one bothered to pay commensurate attention to the screenplay.
No doubt the people at DreamWorks who made "Over the Hedge" would prefer that their film bring to mind animated classics like Disney's "Bambi" (or, as Hammy suggests, "Ice Age"), but no such luck. That voice is one of the few charms in the animated frolic "Over the Hedge," which features a menagerie of meticulously rendered, computer-generated creatures brought to something like life by a host of talented animators and some very fine actors, including Steve Carell, whose speed freak of a squirrel, Hammy, brings to mind Henry Hill just around the time he begins snorting too much of his product in "Goodfellas."
Well, of course Nick Nolte makes sense as a bear - a big, grouchy, sleepy bear with a crackling, beautifully creaking voice that suggests too many late nights smoking far too many unfiltered cigarettes.