'Rio'-- familiar fare, but in the tropics

Jewel, Blu and Rafael the Toucan are characters in Blue Sky Studios' animated movie "Rio," directed by Carlos Saldanha, in theaters April 15, 2011. Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
In the animated 3-D film "Rio," a pet blue macaw discovers he's an endangered species. He has something in common with the movie itself, whose G rating makes it almost equally rare.
Jesse Eisenberg provides the voice of Blu, who as a fledgling is snatched from the jungles of Brazil and accidentally dropped in Moose Lake, Minn., where he is adopted by bespectacled little Linda. She becomes a bookstore owner (Leslie Mann plays her as an adult) while Blu, who drinks cocoa and reads Popular Mechanics, becomes her substitute boyfriend.
The only other blue macaw, Jewel (Anne Hathaway), resides in Brazil with the eccentric ornithologist Tulio Monteiro (Rodrigo Santoro), who convinces Linda to let the birds, ahem, repopulate. Linda accompanies Blu to Rio, providing the film with a second, human romance.
A villainous cockatoo, Nigel (Jemaine Clement), drives the plot, in which Blu and Jewel must escape from animal smugglers. Along the way they'll meet the usual types -- an ethnic toucan (George Lopez), a crooning canary (Jamie Foxx) -- and listen to a few vaguely tropical musical numbers. The film's exotic setting is reduced to cliches (soccer, samba, carnival) even though our tour guide, director Carlos Saldanha, is a native.
Eisenberg ("The Social Network") is an obvious choice for the neurotic Blu, as is Hathaway for the independent- minded Jewel, but they're mismatched. Eisenberg still has a teenager's trebly voice, while Hathaway, though only a year older, sounds full-grown, even husky. Close your eyes and you might start picturing Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.
Back story: 'Rio' birds fly abroad for debut
'Rio" is already a hit overseas. The family film about birds who embark on a Brazilian adventure opened in 72 foreign markets last weekend and collected a strong $55 million, according to an estimate from distributor 20th Century Fox. The movie opened in the No. 1 slot in 32 foreign markets, including Mexico, Germany, and China. And the film did the majority of its business in 3-D theaters, which accounted for 71 percent of overall ticket sales.
"Rio" was originally slated to premiere in the U.S. this weekend. When the domestic release date was changed, many of the international dates were left intact because a number of schools are out on holiday abroad. Not surprisingly, the movie had one of its best debuts in Brazil, where it grossed $8.3 million -- the biggest-ever opening for an animated film in the country. Fox unveiled a strong promotional push in Rio de Janeiro, sending several press outlets to its March 22 premiere there.
In Russia, "Rio" was previewed in theaters early, so it had a slightly higher gross of $10.4 million. That was the best opening of any film to date this year in that country. The film opens in 19 additional foreign markets, including France and Italy, this weekend.
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