Mad Times

Finding Nemo

I seem to always go to Pixar films expecting to be entertained, and then being, instead, completely transported. They're good at this stuff. Nemo is a young clown fish with a single father, Marlin, played wonderfully by Albert Brooks. Marlin is extremely risk-averse following the loss of his wife and their other children (an event depicted in a pretty scary scene in the first few minutes of the film). When Nemo is captured by a diver, his father embarks on a pell-mell quest to bring him home. Early on in his voyage, he encounters Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss (think Memento) and unquenchable optimism voiced by Ellen Degeneres who provides most of the comic relief in the movie.

It was interesting how subtle the environmental messages of the film were. Subtle enough that you might not even notice them. And that's only proper for this film. The characters are almost all fish, but the movie isn't about fish, it's about risk and courage and perseverance.

My therapist strongly recommended this film though it wasn't clear whether it was because he thought I could learn something from it or just because it's a good movie. I suspect the latter because I don't have anything in common with Marlin the risk-averse clown fish. Nope, not a thing. Not even a little bit like him. Not me. Nope.