Listen (film)

Listen would be an American musical buddy adventure film directed by Kevin Lima from an screenplay by Steven Spielberg, Kelly Cremon Fraig, Toby Halbrooks and Lima. A co-production between Universal Pictures, Burr! Productions and Amblin Entertainment, the film would be produced by Spielberg and Kristin Burr, and would star Anthony Mackie and the voices of Eddie Murphy and Leslie Jones. The film's score would be composed by John Williams, while the songs would be written by Williams and Tim Rice.

Development on Listen would start on early 2022, with Lima being in talks to direct the film. Lima would join the project by mid-2022 alongside Spielberg as producer and co-writer with Lima and Halbrooks. Murphy would sign on to star in the film in late 2022, while the rest of the cast and Cremon Fraig would join the film during early 2023. Filming would take place between June and September 2023. Stand-in puppets of the animal characters would be used during filming, which would later be replaced by CGI characters in post-production.

Listen would be released on August 30, 2024, and would become a critcal and financial hit. Critics would praise the film's performances, direction, screenplay, visual effects, and musical numbers, and would earn 998 million dollars over a budget of 95 millions. The film would earn Academy Award nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Original Song.

Synopsis
Listen tells the story of a Schnauzer-mutt named Mike and his owner, Eric, who dosen't have the bet dog/man relationship, since Eric thinks his dog is nothing but a dumb animal, as he's unable to understand him or what he does, while Mike tries to improve their relationship by getting closer to Eric. One day, Eric chooses to go on a camping trip to a forest, but Mike follows him, fearing for his owner's safety, sneaks in to make sure he's fine. now trapped in the forest with each other, Mike and Eric, with the help of a squirrel named Wendy, must learn to understand each other in order to survive the perils of nature.

Cast

 * Anthony Mackie as Eric, a man who believes his dog is stupid due to not understandig him, only to being forced to work with him to survive in the forest. Mackie would call his character "complicated", as "he's a guy who believes he's above his dog and is quite mean to him, yet has to be likeable to everybody", and that he would try to play the character in a way that "bring up the flaws in him and is at the same time likeable".

Voice cast

 * Eddie Murphy as Mike, a Schnauzer-mutt who tries to be loved by his owner, in spite of not being understood by him. Murphy would describe him as "a guy who knows what he wants, but he dosen't know how to get it, yet at the same time does what he feels he has to do", so he would voice him "with a sense of both confidence and insecurity". Murphy would improvise several of his lines during recording.
 * Leslie Jones as Wendy, a squirrel from the forest, who reclutantly agrees to help Mike to get Eric's love. Jones would refer to her character as "a cynical squirrel with a sense of humor bigger than her and a pessimistic actitude that her past experiences with relationships created", and would say that "she learns as much from her experience with Mike as he does from her".
 * Anika Noni Rose as Darling, a Golden Retriever who is a good friend of Mike's.

Music
John Williams would compose the film's score. Williams would try to compose "a simple and heartfelt" score "witha forest feeling to it" to fit both the film's plot and setting. Williams would compose a theme for Mike that is "determined, but at the same time feels fearful", while his theme for Eric would "have both a good guy and a shortsighted-view-of-the-world feel", and Wendy's theme would be "as pessimistic as her".

Williams would also write songs for the film alongside lyricist Tim Rice. Rice would try to avoid the lyrics of songs featuring Eric and Mike from "directly connecting between themselves" due to Eric being unable to understand Mike, throught the lyrics for certain songs would "feel spiritually connected to each other" to reflect their growing relationship. SZA would perform a song for the film's credits

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 89%, with an average rating of 8.7/10, based on 200 reviews. The website's critical consensus would read, "Thanks to its wonderful direction, well-written script and songs, and impresive performance, Listen manages to use its timely themes to create a timeless story about undestanding and friendship". On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have a weighted rating of 78 out of 100, based on 50 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Trivia

 * This would be Kevin Lima's first film since Disney's Enchanted (2007).