Perhaps more importantly, though, Seinfeld is one of the writers credited in "Bee Movie." Seinfeld, after all, is the comic genius who was able to turn a show about nothing into a sitcom megahit. Just ask NBC how good Seinfeld is; they still haven't found a viable replacement. Surely, then, "Bee Movie" is a clever comedy that kids and adults alike will appreciate!

Or not.

Things start out smoothly enough. Barry (voiced by Seinfeld) is our hero who cannot bring himself to conform like all his fellow bees, namely to choose a job involved with endless honey making and do it forever.

Barry ventures outside the hive one day and breaks bee law by talking to a human (Zellweger). At this point the plot of "Bee Movie" is still promising. Barry has gone against everything the thousands of bees in his hive stand for, he's bonding with a human being. Things are getting interesting.

Barry, you see, has a crush on Zellweger's character, who in case you didn't catch it, is a human. Barry's a bee. It's weird! What other word is there to describe a pseudo-sexual tension between a cartoon human and a cartoon bee in a theater full of 5-year-olds? Well, creepy works, too.

If you are able to let that oddity go (or at least ignore it), you are probably just about to the point in the film when in a matter of seconds the bees go from being mad at Barry to buzzing behind him in court when he sues humans for stealing bee-made honey.

There is no real transition period to speak of, either. Apparently, we humans were expecting that bees could talk all along because we don't bat an eye at the idea of defending ourselves in court against them.

Against bees.

Against talking bees.

Am I the only human who thinks there would be at least some sort of initial uproar about talking bumblebees?

Speaking of humans, why is it that animators just cannot seem to get it right? Animals, bugs, monsters and just about anything else you want, you got it, but humans still don't look right in these movies. The ones in "Bee Movie" are blocky and awkward-looking, which takes away from what should be funny moments.

I'm piling it on, but it isn't all bad for "Bee Movie." Seinfeld's talents do come through for a good chuckle every so often, though I'm not sure how much of it youngsters will catch.

Chester Duke Carson

And once the third act finally rolls around, it finishes strong. The second act drags on (and into sheer ridiculousness) so long, however, that I was surprised to see afterward that it only has a 90-minute running time.

I think I just turned what was supposed to be a paragraph of praise into a backhanded-complementary one at best. Perhaps this ultimately sums it up best: The ingredients are all accounted for, they just weren't put to good use.