MOVIE REVIEWS: THE SMURFS

The Smurfs is receiving little of the admiration that critics bestowed on that other movie with characters who were blue and in 3D. But here and there it is picking up some mostly favorable reviews. Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times observes that the funniest moments in the movie “are either raunchy or scandalous,” which make the movie “surprisingly tolerable” for adults. His conclusion: “On a hot summer day, The Smurfs is a decent enough excuse to haul the little ones into an air-conditioned theater.” Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle writes that it’s actually “a better movie than anyone could have possibly expected, thanks in large part to an honest effort by [star Neil Patrick] Harris in a thankless role.” But Sean O’Connell gets into the spirit of Smurfdom by launching into his review this way: “Raja Gosnell’s The Smurfs is the smurfiest movie I’ve ever smurfed. No, wait. That sounds too positive. How about, ‘I wouldn’t smurf Gosnell’s The Smurfs on my smurfiest enemy.’ There, that’s better.” Well, how about a line like “What the Smurf?” in the movie itself? Well, writes Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times: “If that sort of bad blue pun, as opposed to fun, is to your little one’s liking, then parents, you are in for a fingernails-on-the-chalkboard, ahem, treat.” Scott Bowles in USA Today provides two separate reactions to the movie — one directed at kids, the other at adults. “Attention, all 4-year-olds reading this review: You’re going to love The Smurfs. And congrats on your reading skills.” Then later: “Attention, parents of said 4-year-olds: You may want to bring something to read in the theater.”