By Bob Polunsky
Movie Critic

“Bee Movie” is a rarity: It’s a feature-length cartoon with adult characters doing childish things.

Its style is reminiscent of Jerry Seinfeld’s popular TV show in which he surrounded himself with a strong supporting cast but was still the center of attention. That should come as a shock, because Seinfeld co-wrote, co-produced and stars in “Bee Movie” with Matthew Broderick, Chris Rock, John Goodman, Kathy Bates, Larry Miller and Rip Torn. None of them try to upstage him; they support him like his TV cast members did.

The plot sounds silly – and it probably is – until you see what Seinfeld does with it. He plays Barry B. Benson, a bee that went to college and is ready to work in New Hive City making honey alongside his fellow bees.

That’s what bees do, and Barry B. knows it. He just wants to sow a few wild oats first, like pollinating the prettiest flowers in town and taking part in a tennis match.

Watching Barry B. cling to a tennis ball while it’s knocked back and forth is one of the film’s cleverest scenes. Listening to him buzz around the human community, getting caught and almost squashed to death is another. He’s saved in the nick of time by a pretty florist (Renee Zellweger) who thinks bees have a right to live. Barry B. is so taken with her philosophy of life that he breaks the rules of “Bee-dom” and thanks her in English. When she asks where he learned English, he says, “I just picked it up.”

She then tells him things about life in the real world that he didn’t know. Like the fact that human beings actually eat honey. That just about shocks his wings off, and he’s determined to do something about it. He intends to sue human beings for stealing a bee’s rightful claim to their prized honey.

It isn’t easy to do, but he does it with the help of clever comedians delivering lines that Kramer, Elaine, George and even Newman might have said at one time or another in Seinfeld’s TV series.

Barry B. goes to court and is almost upstaged by a pom-pous lawyer. His efforts build to a peak, then ends in a way that puts the silliness of the storyline in perspective with a dry sense of humor that’s more verbal than physical.

The idea of saving the bee community’s honey supply sounds lofty, even childish, until you realize it calls attention to the exaggerated personalities involved.

Double entendres spice up the dialogue without going overboard, reminding us that Seinfeld was never down and dirty. He was clever enough to generate clean laughs in suggestive ways. In this film, the buzz is right: “Bee Movie” is an A-list flick.

Studio rating: PG

Bob says: “A honey of a movie” HHH