By Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate have had this idea about a talking shell named Marcel with a pair of shoes on for over 12 years as the short with the same name as the feature Marcel the Shell with Shoes On debuted on YouTube. Now that there is a Feature Film to give the world more of this endlessly adorable shell with his shoes on, audiences truly could not be any more delighted than they have been with beloved Marcel. They say it takes a village (at least someone says that) but in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, it just takes Marcel to fall in love with and have so much passion, care, and worry for this shell who wears shoes and his adventures.
The Movie focuses on Marcel (Jenny Slate) as Dean (Dean Fleischer-Camp) has rented out the AirBNB that Marcel lives in and decides to make a documentary about Marcel. At first, Marcel is a little perplexed about why Dean wants to make a Documentary about him, as he doesnât see himself as anything interesting or out of the ordinary, he is just a shell with shoes on and lives his life to the fullest. As we get to learn more about Marcel, he introduces us to Connie (Isabella Rossellini). The Audience later finds out that Marcel was separated from his family due to the house being placed on AirBNB, so Dean decides to take it upon himself to talk Marcel into making the Documentary not just about Marcel himself but his journey to hopefully be reunited with his family and get the internet involved in tracking down the rest of his family.
What makes Marcel the Shell with Shoes On so incredibly heartfelt and passionate are those performances from both Jenny Slate and Isabella Rossellini. As Actors, the hardest job they have to do is to get the Audience to care about the work theyâre doing and resonate with the Characters and bring them to life in a new way. It is impossible not to fall in love with both Marcel and Connie it all is because of the incredible Voice Work that both Rossellini and Slate bring to their characters that just allow audiences to fall in love with them. There is such a sweet innocence in Marcel that is brought to life by Jenny Slate and a wise rustic ventured voice brought to life in Connie that every moment theyâre speaking the Audience is just captivated as we have been conditioned to care so much about these shells and their shoes.
The Script that Dean Fleischer-Camp and Nick Paley have created together is nothing sort of magnificent. There is something just so whole heartedly pure and lovable about the adventures of Marcel that make his story so inspiring. To say it is an underdog story is inaccurate, but up against so many odds, and being a literal shell with one eye and an adorable pair of red shoes, without any real help and accomplishing so much on his own is inspiring. There is so much passion and loved poured into Marcel the Shell with Shoes On that cannot be overlooked, but certainly explains why audiences are falling in love with this adorable little shell. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On did not need a $100 million budget, it just needed Marcel to tell his story to the world.
There is so much to simply love about Marcel the Shell with Shoes On whether it be the incredible performances from the Cast, or the wonderful Script which the Audience gets to indulge in. But it is everything as a whole that brings Marcel the Shell with Shoes On to such an incredible level of brilliance and sheer blissful love, there is no other way to describe it. It warms your heart through and through and is surely one of the best Movies you will this year.
Elevation Pictures release MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON Friday July 1, 2022 in select cinemas, with additional cities to follow in coming weeks.
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