While there are certainly more noxious performance traits than an obvious, incessant need to be loved, Billy Crystal expends so much energy strong-arming us for adoration and sympathy in this sentimental dramedy that I occasionally found it hard to even look at him. At least Tiffany Haddish is on hand to occasionally make the guy look good – and by “good,” I really mean “less insufferable.”

It turns out that the preview goosing us with the promise of Incredibles-esque fun isn't at all necessary, because TMvtM proves so clever, so exciting, and so consistently riotous that it already feels like a computer-animated comedy classic. It's literally been years since I've laughed so hard at a movie, and I didn't even need a crowd of equally delighted cineplex patrons to keep me roaring – though I sure wouldn't have minded one.

Oh, Oscars. You just keep finding new and creative ways to screw things up, don't you?

One of the most acclaimed and adored animated features of the 21st century will enjoy a quartet of special 20th-anniversary screenings between April 25 and 29, with Rave Cinemas Davenport 53rd + IMAX hosting big-screen presentations of Shrek, the Dreamworks Animation mega-hit that will reunite family audiences with the titular green ogre, Donkey, Princess Fiona, Lord Farquaad, and scores of other beloved characters.