The last few features from Dreamworks' computer-animation division have been so dreadful that Over the Hedge comes as a sweet relief merely by being cute and inoffensive. It still doesn't compare to some of the warm, rich masterpieces from Pixar, but at least it won't make you cringe in disgust like Shark Tale or Madagascar.
Maybe it helps that the Dreamworks crew isn't starting from scratch this time: Hedge is based on a popular comic strip and follows a motley crew of forest animals who live (you guessed it) just over the hedge from a modern suburban master-planned community. They awake from hibernation to find civilization has encroached on their idyllic woodland paradise, and worldly raccoon RJ (voiced by Bruce Willis) arrives to teach them how to mooch off humans effectively.
Timid turtle Verne (Garry Shandling) is wary of RJ's advice, and with good reason: The raccoon really just wants to use the trusting band of foragers to gather enough food to repay a large bear that he's angered, and then leave them without a single scrap to eat. Of course he's going to learn to feel compassion for his naïve new friends, and they'll all eventually band together as a family.
The message may be familiar and the story predictable, but at least the emotions and lessons feel genuine and aren't pressed on the audience in a crass, overbearing manner. There are no desperate pop culture references, and the pace is not so manic as to give you a headache and your children a hyperactivity disorder. There are still some flashy set-pieces that don't serve much of a purpose, and the cast of celebrity voices (including William Shatner, Eugene Levy and Steve Carell) is often wasted on characters who don't get to do very much.
The film's best moments are when it engages in pointed criticisms of gated communities and conspicuous consumption, but the satire never comes at the expense of the sweet, innocuous story at the core. Over the Hedge is never particularly daring, then, but thankfully it's never insulting, either.