The film scores high in its voice casting that takes marginal material and makes it seem better than it is. Smith doesn’t so much act as be himself, or at least the genuinely likable persona that he has cultivated -- boisterous, fast-talking, and full of an effervescent ebullience. Zellwegger’s inflection is hominy thick with spunky southern charm and sentiment, while, Black never becomes overbearingly schmaltzy as the cuddly, oversensitive and underbrained shark who would rather be pals that predator.

The animation is an eyeful, dressed up in day glow colors and meticulous rendering that almost lets you count the scales on the characters. Yet, what is most laudable is how superbly the animators have captured the actors voicing the characters. It’s more than giving Don Lino De Niro’s mole, mimicking Angelina Jolie’s lips as the dragonfish gold digger of the piece, or strategically placing fins that evoke Smith’s exuberantly jutting ears. They have mimicked the facial expressions and body language with astonishing detail, adding an oddly dissonant but delightful verisimilitude to fish with all-but human faces. Take De Niro’s signature slow burn and sudden explosions of rage, of course this time instead of Al Capone ticked off at Eliot Ness or Jake LaMotta ticked off at the world at large, it's Lenny's refusal to chow down on the victual of choice, the one begging for its life. He, along with Scorsese, have a gift for schtick that lets them, and us, have fun even with a stale bit about doing the piscine version of the high five, the high fin. It’s that, coupled with the a gift for schtick, that lets De Niro and Scorsese have fun with a stale bit about doing the piscine version of the high five, the high fin while doing a dynamite parody of their cinematic wise guy, goodfella history. In fact they pretty much steal the film.

There are a few gems, such as what happens when someone tries to pour a cup of coffee underwater, or the unexpected wonder of a seriously a snarky shrimp, but there are far more missed opportunities, such as having a lava lamp that doesn’t take a maritime twist, or giving Don Lino an octopus for an aide-de-camp. If there’s a joke in there, I sure can’t find it. Mostly, though, it’s a gentle comedy that teaches the requisite lesson about being yourself while taking no chances whatsoever, unless you count not changing the lyrics to the 70s classic “Carwash” even as the object being washed is a whale.