DreamWorks Animation

'The Boss Baby' doesn't milk enough laughs from premise

Based on a popular picture book, the basic idea could hardly be more universal: life is going along just swimmingly for 7 ½-year-old Tim (voiced by Miles Bakshi), until his parents (Lisa Kudrow, Jimmy Kimmel) inform him that he's about to have a baby brother.

Because a grown-up Tim (Tobey Maguire) narrates the story, a bit of hyperbole is reasonable, like his recollection of the baby (Alec Baldwin, in an inspired casting stroke) motoring up to the driveway in a cab, already wearing a little suit and tie.