Osmosis Jones (2001) is a part animated, part live action film whose title character is Osmosis Jones, a white blood cell. Unusually for this genre, the live action characters and cartoon characters never meet. The live action characters are people as they appear in the real world, and the animated characters are the cells and germs which live inside a man named Frank, whom the story concerns. A TV spinoff has been created named Ozzy and Drix, which concerns the two characters of the same name.

Plot

Frank is a slovenly zookeeper. Much to the frustration of his young daughter Shane, he eats and drinks compulsively and has no regard for germs or diseases. Early on, as a follower of the "ten second rule", he consumes a hardboiled egg that was covered in filth from the grass surrounding the monkey cages, to Shane's digust.

Inside Frank's body, another story unfolds. Osmosis Jones works as a member of Immunity, Frank's defense system, as a white blood cell. He is a rebel cop, rarely doing what his chief tells him to. Meanwhile, Mayor Phlegmming is preparing for re-election, campaigning with the promise of more junk food (much to the joy of the citizens in the Love Handle District). The Mayor is largely responsible for Frank's deteriorating health. However, his re-election hopes are complicated by the arrival of Thrax, a deadly virus that came in with the egg.

In an attempt to cover up the severity of the situation, Phlegmming tells Frank to take a cold pill. The pill, Drix, arrives in the body and Osmosis Jones becomes his partner. Soon, they unravel Thrax's plot to masquerade as the common cold while at the same time plotting to overheat Frank's body, killing him from the inside out. Thrax is motivated by trying to become the nastiest new virus, attempting to kill each new victim faster than the previous. His grandiose plan for Frank is death in 48 hours.

Eventually, Osmosis and Drix confront Thrax in one of Frank's zits. Drix launches a grenade of medication at Thrax and his cronies, popping the skin blemish, and seemingly ending Thrax's siege. To sweep the dust under the carpet, Phlegmming convinces Drix to leave and fires Osmosis, who insists that Thrax was more than the common cold. Osmosis' prediction becomes true as Thrax was able to survive the explosion and decides to launch a one-man assault on Frank's brain.

Thanks to the efforts of Leah, the Mayor's knowledgeable assistant, Osmosis and Drix are alerted to Thrax's plan and race to the brain for the final showdown with Thrax.

Interlaced with the main plot are several live action sequences that detail Frank's rocky relationship with Shane outside the body. Her mother died at an early age, and we might speculate Frank "let himself go" out of depression. Frank humiliated Shane's teacher, Mrs. Boyd, during a science fair. Shane is ashamed of her father. But, seeing him facing a terminal virus creates an epiphany in both of them. Frank needs to start caring for his body, and Shane learns to stop blaming Frank's apathy for her mother's death.

Taglines:

• He's one cell of a guy. (Osmosis)
• He's a real pill (Drix)

Cast

Live Action Characters

• Bill Murray - Frank
• Elena Franklin - Shane
• Chris Elliott - Bob
• Molly Shannon - Mrs. Boyd

Animated Characters

• Chris Rock - Osmosis Jones
• Laurence Fishburne - Thrax
• David Hyde Pierce - Drix
• Brandy Norwood - Leah
• William Shatner - Mayor Phlegmming
• Ron Howard - Tom Colonicl

External links

• Official site