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The Book of Life

The Book of Life

Animation · Family · Fantasy · 2014

The journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

Movie details

The Book of Life

“Two worlds. One love.”

2014 Animation · Family · Fantasy 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

The journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Book of Life?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jorge R. Gutierrez

Written by

Jorge R. Gutierrez · Doug Langdale

Diego Luna

Diego Luna

Manolo (voice)

Zoe Saldaña

Zoe Saldaña

Maria (voice)

Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum

Joaquin (voice)

Ron Perlman

Ron Perlman

Xibalba (voice)

Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate

Mary Beth (voice)

Ice Cube

Ice Cube

Candle Maker (voice)

Kate del Castillo

Kate del Castillo

La Muerte (voice)

Court is in session

Put The Book of Life on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.