Knowing how to be happy with what you have might not be a way of thinking shared by many however, for Grug and the rest of the Crood family, it has quickly become second nature. With each disappearing neighbor comes an even deeper appreciation for all of the little things (or maybe not so little since we’re talking about a time when things are still made out of boulders and such). Sure, the Croods’ casa might be built into an actual cave but it keeps the family warm and dry (for the most part), and that is all that really matters. Well, that and staying clear of the super-sized critters that seem to be gobbling up everyone in the neighborhood.
But let’s be realistic now. Living in a cave could come with a number of terrible downsides but only if you had been made aware of the possible upsides at some point in time. For the Crood family, living without toilets and windows is something that has simply always been, so it has never been an issue. But that might be changing very soon.
Change is something that rarely occurs for the Crood family so it would be almost impossible for anyone in the family to notice change if it walked right up and bit one of them in the behind. But on this one day in particular, everything changed. The family had been out of the cave which was a rarity for any of them. You see, Grug was the kind of husband and father that didn’t trust anything or anyone else around so he typically made everyone stay indoors.
Anyway, the family had been out of the cave when everything around them began to shake. The shake turned into a shimmy, which in turn developed into complete chaos. The ground began to open up right under their feet and everything around them began to crumble. Their first instinct was to high tale it back to the cave but when they finally arrived, their “safe haven” was no more. Their home had been completely destroyed and for the first time, in a very long time, they had no sense of security.
The only thing that Grug could think about was the fact that they would all be eaten by the super-sized critters who were now in a total panic. Grug immediately goes into panic mode himself which turns out to be a very uncomfortable feeling.
Just when all hope seemed to be lost, Eep (the teenage daughter of the family) remembered someone that she had just met the night before. His name was Guy, and he was very different. To expand on that a little further, Guy seemed to be an individual who wasn’t simply from out of town. Guy seemed to be an individual who could have been from out of time, or at least before his time. He wore unusual things on his body and carried a little piece of the sun with him wherever he went (fire). What made Guy even more intriguing was the fact that he claimed to know something about what was happening and linked it to the end of the world as they knew it.
The question at hand turned into one of Guy’s credibility, and whether or not he could help the Crood family make it through this catastrophe at all. Eep couldn’t help but think that if she and her family simply connected with Guy in some way, they could do more than learn how to just make it through alive. Her hope was that they could learn a whole new way of living and it excited her something fierce.
Positive Elements
Grug is the kind of father that many fathers will be able to relate to. He cares deeply for his family. In fact, he cares for his family so deeply that he literally locks them in the cave to keep them safe. But can you blame him? I mean really, there are very large critters around every corner in Grugs’ neck of the woods.
And then everything falls apart. Everything but Grug anyway. Even without their wonderful cave, Grug is still a man on a mission. It is going to take more than a little catastrophic event to break Grug, and deter him from his purpose in life.
While Guy and Grug are complete opposites, they seem to share a common goal. Guy truly cares for the Croods and his unusual methods get them a very long way. Together, they make a fairly decent team. Grug learns to depend on Guy for his incredible ideas and Guy learns to submit to Grug and his ability to lead quite well.
Sexual Content
Eep seems to be going through a deficit in the area of material for her clothing because her skirt is always a bit too short and her top just a tad bit on the low side.
Guy and Eep begin to like each other (surprise, surprise) and they share a few hugs and kisses (to Grug’s dismay).
Violent Content
Much of the violence witnessed in The Croods stems from natural causes but can you expect any different when living in this particular time? There are a lot of people being consumed by very large creatures and there are even some very ferocious smaller creatures. There is even a scene where a monkey literally beats the heck out of Grug, and one where a flower eats people as they pass on by.
Outside of the natural violence, there is quite a bit of the humorous kind of violence (if there is even such a thing). The Crood family seems to really enjoy slapping, whacking and outright causing genuine pain to each other at times. You are going to have to see how they take photographs of each other. They literally smash themselves with rocks to accomplish the task.
Drug and Alcohol Content
There is one scene in particular where Belt is witnessed serving everyone what seems to be cocktails.
Conclusion
There are movies of every kind coming out these days so why not one like The Croods? It is unusual enough to keep your interest and it actually has a number of valuable lessons to pass on. Grug, in particular, seems to be the main character throughout the movie. It is really about his successes and failures where taking care of his family is concerned.
All in all, he does an amazing job at showing us how difficult it was to care for a family back in that time. If keeping your teenage daughter from getting into trouble with the neighboring boys wasn’t difficult enough to handle, there was the little matter of keeping her from getting eaten by a passing creature. Being a dad was quite difficult back then.
The Croods might not be appropriate for very young children but as with any other decision regarding the viewing of a movie, parents should use their better judgement when making the decision on The Croods.
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Southern Outdoor Cinema
About Paul B. Murray
Paul is founder of Southern Outdoor Cinema, an outdoor cinema event production company based in Atlanta and a dad to 2 pre-teen girls. When he is is not traveling to create outdoor movie nights for communities, he is spending time playing board games, reading books and of course watching movies with his girls.
