The Feel-Good Movie of the Season

“Sing” is the story of a group of musically talented animals whose abilities are tested in a local singing competition, hosted by an ambitious koala named Buster Moon. The plot opens with a distressed Moon, whose broken-down theater is facing foreclosure. His latest shows have been complete flops, and he searches for a way to save his theater and gain the sponsorship of retired singer, Nana Noodleman, a wealthy sheep who performed at the very theater many years ago. Moon decides on the idea of hosting a singing competition for the locals, offering a $100,000 reward for the winner.
After a day of auditioning hundreds of animals for his show, Moon chooses a select few talented individuals to perform.
The first is a middle-aged mother pig named Rosita, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, whose life revolves around taking care of her 25 piglets while her husband works. During rehearsals, she struggles to let herself go alongside her quirky dance partner, Gunter, too embarrassed by her lack of dance background to take a risk. Throughout the movie, Rosita learns the importance of taking care of herself before anybody else, and that it’s ok to embrace her gifts and pursue her own happiness.
Scarlett Johansson voices the character of Ash, an angsty teenage porcupine who plays punk rock music with her boyfriend, Lance (Beck Bennett). However, after the couple is faced with hard times shortly after the audition, Ash must find herself again as an individual musician and person.
The third contestant is Johnny (Taren Egerton), a soulful teenage gorilla who learns to accompany his powerful voice with the piano. Raised by his father, the leader of a criminal gang, Johnny strives to become his own person while still being someone his father can be proud of.
Next comes the conniving little mouse, Mike, voiced by Seth MacFarlane, who spends his free time hustling others out of their money for his own benefit, something that will get him in trouble in the future. He is the one contestant that is there just for the money reward, and he doesn’t refrain from proclaiming his confidence in his abilities to the others.
The final contestant is Meena, a nervous and soft-spoken elephant voiced by Tori Kelly, whose extreme case of stage fright prevents her from performing to the best of her ability. We first meet her at her grandfather’s birthday party, where she amazes audiences with her rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
My favorite part about “Sing” is that all of the characters are able to come together with one common passion, even though their backgrounds are so different. Each and every one of the characters grows immensely throughout the movie, and by the time they all get the chance to perform at the end of the movie, they have transformed into their best, most confident selves. I would definitely recommend “Sing” to anyone interested in seeing a feel-good movie this holiday season.