Animal chaos hits suburbia

Over the Hedge is a slick family film about a society of forest animals. It's also a satire of consumerism.

Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, DreamWorks' latest animation opens with RJ the raccoon (voice provided by Bruce Willis) stealing a cartload of food from Vincent the bear (Nick Nolte). The furious bear threatens to eat RJ if he doesn't replenish his goodies, especially his beloved potato chips, within a week.

RJ then comes across a bunch of naive forest animals headed by a cautious turtle named Verne (Garry Shandling). The animals are struggling to survive as suburbia is spreading further into their woodland home. With the ulterior motive of saving his own skin, RJ persuades them to step over the hedge and steal junk food from their human invaders.

'We eat to live, but humans live to eat,' says RJ when he introduces the animals to the world of TV, caffeine and nacho chips.

The amusing scene in which two girls scream at the sight of Verne and Hammy the squirrel (Steve Carell) illustrates the irony of suburban life: it's fun to live in nature, but only if it's without the animals and with the comforts of modern life.

As RJ and his gang continue to violate homes and garbage cans, a pest control expert called The Verminator is brought in. Vincent, now having fully wakened from hibernation, also closes in to reclaim his food from RJ.