Osmosis Jones Can't Decide What Its Audience Is

Over the past few decades, Bill Murray has played a lot of schlubby fellas, but never have I seen him less attractive than in Osmosis Jones, the 2001 Farrelly Brothers movie about the quest of a white blood cell and a cold pill to defeat the virus ravaging Frank, the grungy guy in whom they reside.

Murray portrays Frank, a zookeeper and widower with astonishingly poor eating habits and hygiene. His young daughter Shane (Elena Franklin) is alarmed about both, but her concerns fall upon deaf ears, and after an especially disgusting scene involving an ill-advised implementation of the 10-second rule, he pays the price for his lack of standards as to what he puts into his mouth. A malevolent virus makes its way into his system, and the micro-organisms inside of him must work overtime to counteract the damage.

This is an odd movie because it seems geared toward two different audiences. The live-action portion is stilted and absurdly over-the-top, with all the finesse of a film created for the express purpose of encouraging elementary school students to eat their veggies and wash their hands before dinner. Pouty Shane tries not to condescend too much, but she still comes across as an insufferable know-it-all; she may be just a tween, but she seems to spend her life lecturing her father. Then again, his immaturity level is off the charts. His gross-out antics may amuse a certain subset of youngsters, but most adults are likely to find these scenes tedious and B-movie-ish.

While the live-action portion is clearly aimed at a young audience, the animated part is slick-looking, filled with familiar voice talent and hip commentary on contemporary culture. Health lessons abound here as well, but they are much more technical, and the writing in general is far more sophisticated. There’s also some innuendo, and several moments involving uber-villain The Red Death (Laurence Fishburne) are quite terrifying, so not only will a lot of the animated stuff go over the heads of kids, some of it is pretty inappropriate.

The most enjoyable elements of the film are the maneuvers of the campy mayor of Frank’s body, voiced by William Shatner, and the friendship that develops between loose cannon cop Osmosis (Chris Rock) and distinguished but heroic cold pill Drix (David Hyde Pierce). These two characters initially clash, but they bond as they become two of the only organisms in the body who understand what they are truly up against with this virus. Frasier turned me into an ardent fan of Pierce, and as always, his voice work is fantastic here. Rock is almost a little too spastic for my tastes, but he’s likable nonetheless.

Osmosis Jones is a mixed bag of a movie that is worth a watch, but most people will probably find at least one part of the movie frustrating. Parents of kids under twelve should be aware of the adult themes in the animated portion, while adults in general should know that the live segments are very juvenile indeed. Still, the movie’s message about the importance of a healthy diet and proper cleanliness, heavy-handed as it may be, is a worthwhile one, and Drix and Osmosis make an entertaining and visually appealing team.