LUCA
2021 | Dir. Enrico Casarosa | 101 Minutes
2021 | Dir. Enrico Casarosa | 101 Minutes
"Some people, they’ll never accept him, but some will, and he seems to know how to find the good ones."
Disguised as humans, teenage sea monsters Luca and Alberto enter a small coastal town looking for a Vespa with dreams of traveling the world. Giulia, a fisherman's plucky daughter, recruit the duo to enter a triathlon in hopes of besting the town bully. Though constantly at risk of discovery by the fearful townspeople while dodging Luca's over-protective parents, Luca and Alberto have the summer of their lives.
Set in the Italian Riviera, Luca is an ode to Italian culture and youthful summer days spent with friends swimming, biking, gorging on pasta, and dreaming in the sun. For better or worse, the tone of the film is as light as its low-stakes plot, though the narrative gains a considerable amount of momentum at the end of the second act as the picture's central relationship, a fully-realized friendship with ups and downs that are true to life, eventually presents a conflict more compelling than the one posed by the story's antagonist. In its third act, the picture comes together beautifully, particularly during the frantic climatic triathlon sequence. Beyond the bountiful comedy mined from its literal fish-out-water premise, jokes and physical gags that practically write themselves, the simple story of a mythical creature going to great lengths to pass as human in order to live among them may easily be applied as a metaphor for the experiences of anyone who has ever been labeled an outsider by society.
As to be expected from a Pixar film, the attention to detail in every aspect of the production design is meticulous and absolutely lovely. Populated with countless interesting unique extras and landmarks that quickly become recognizable, weathered to perfection, the fishing town of Portorosso feels alive, believable, welcoming, and very Italian. While the animation quality is splendid throughout, the fantastical dream sequences within Luca's imagination in particular are full of wonder and spectacle.
Jacob Tremblay delivers a natural performance as the eponymous hero of the story, lending his youthful voice to a boy who gradually learns to stifle his fears and pursue his dreams. Tremblay plays perfectly off of Jack Dylan Grazer's over-confident, secretly insecure Alberto, creating an amusing dynamic. Voicing the fiery Giulia, Emma Berman is appropriately full of pep. Slightly over-the-top, Saverio Raimondo imbues the bully Ercole with almost too much smarm. Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan's opposing comedic stylings are perfectly fit Luca's high-strung mother and laid-back father. The film also features Marco Barricelli as Giulia's taciturn father with a heart of gold, Sandy Martin as Luca's knowing and subtly supportive grandmother, and Sacha Baron Cohen as the bizarre anglerfish Uncle Ugo.
Luca is a real crowd pleaser, full of joy and emotionally resonant where it counts. A brisk ride through an idyllic Italian summer setting, it is a heartwarming if rather modest picture greatly elevated by Pixar's customary top quality artistry. Its small-scale story of friendship and overcoming fear as an outsider isn't the most dramatic narrative by modern animated feature standards, though it may be a richer allegory than expected for audiences who care to read into it.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
Uncle Ugo monologues about life in the deep to a lost sheepfish.
Uncle Ugo monologues about life in the deep to a lost sheepfish.
A113
Luca's train ticket to Genova is ticket number A113
PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY
- The ball from 1986 Pixar animated short Luxo, Jr. appears on the roof of one of the buildings during the triathlon sequence
- A Pizza Planet Piaggio Ape appears during the final rainy stretch of the triathlon
FRAGMENTS
- The film is credited as "produced in our slippers around the bay area" in reference to how the picture was produced remotely by Pixar staff during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020
- The film is credited as "produced in our slippers around the bay area" in reference to how the picture was produced remotely by Pixar staff during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020
- Luca's surname is Paguro which means "hermit crab" in Italian, while Alberto's is Scorfano which means "scorpionfish"
- The town of Portorosso is named after Hayao Miyazaki's 1992 film Porco Rosso
- 94608, the number on the train to Genova, is the zip code for Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California
