GKIDS
Release Date: April 19, 2024
Please check local listings for screenings near you.
After a successful limited theatre run in New York and Los Angeles, the French animated masterpiece, Chicken for Linda! Is getting ready to be dressed for success! This hilarious slice of life film looks at everything a parent will do just to please a child. The hen is intended for slaughter, and there were times I wished it would survive. But sadly, it’s destined to be on the dinner plate for Paulette (Clotilde Hesme) and her daughter (Mélinée Leclerc). As for whether they can locate one during a labour strike, that’s going to be a challenge!
As a single mother, life is never easy. The father died when Linda was a baby. Now that she’s much older these days, she’s quite the handful! Although mom makes the mistake of blaming her kid for losing the wedding ring she still holds dear, thankfully it gets found! It turns out the family cat was the culprit!
But the damage is done. To make up for everything, Mom says she’ll prepare her daughter’s favourite meal. It’s the only memory this girl has of her papa before he passed, and what happens next is a hilarious road trip style movie. The two hop in a car in search of a farmer who has a hen to sell. When they finally find one, this bird will not let them ruthlessly kill it, and to go after it creates some great cinéma vérité chaos.
Just who they involve in the merry chase defines this film. They’re relatively crazy individuals, and it’s safe to say they wanted to be invited over for dinner too. Like the other characters, they are rather colourful folks, and when a single pigment determines their nature, I’ll have to brush up on my art history to figure out what they metaphorically represent.
Even though this young lady still acts out during the pursuit of their next meal, there were times I had to sympathise with Paulette. I wanted her to stop asking, “I want chicken with peppers.” She’s a bit of a one note personality until the narrative finally reveals the greater concern–how to deal with loss of a loved one. It seems the parent never had time to fully grieve.
The music that’s added on top doesn’t change the tone of the film. Instead of a movie about tragedy, it’s about how mother and daughter need to reconnect. The tale is happy, and while I don’t see it as something to take young ones to, teens may well understand it better should they be living under similar circumstances, where one of their parents passed away too soon.
Now, as for those leftovers, who’s hungry for chicken noodle soup?
4½) Stars out of 5
Chicken for Linda! Movie Trailer
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