While competing in the Tour de France, a bicyclist is kidnapped by the French mafia and shipped to America where his athleticism is used for some inexplicable form of underground gambling ring. His club footed grandmother and her obese dog take a paddle boat to New York to find him - along the way, meeting up with a trio of elderly sisters who were a once famous musical group. They now live in a rundown apartment, eating nothing but stewed frogs and using household appliances as instruments for their latest stage act...
With it's very little dialog, explicitly drab color palette and nicely blended medley of composited animation 'styles', "The Triplets of Belleville" works very well in conveying it's bizarre premise with quite a unique and radical 'flair'. The design of the character's and settings are consistently interesting - particularly the three sisters whose noises and movements are oddly creepy and distinct and I also liked how America is portrayed with everyone being a super-fat, hamburger-obsessed slob. The use of CGI blends well and is clearly used out of necessity - or I guess you could say, justifiable convenience - with difficult things, such as bikes, cars, trains and various other types of intricate, moving machinery. Point is, the film looks much different from most and the laborious effort and attention to detail is evident. Those who aren't all that 'into' the technical elements of animation may not dig this one much or might find the storyline a bit unsatisfactory (which, overall, it's not the best plot...), but those who like traditional animation should definitely check it out, as well as Chomet's other works.
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