Chicken for Linda!

Astounding, vivid, and lively.

Unforgettable flavor is what the uproarious, sublimely gorgeous hand-drawn musical “Chicken for Linda!” serves.

If some of the jokes can be broad and childish (the film probably plays best for the 10-and-under set), the overall tone is so tender that you can’t help but be moved by Linda’s nonstop adventures.

As a small amusement, “Chicken for Linda!” is an enjoyable enough lark.

For all its playful color-block hues and deceptively casual illustrations, the movie delivers a sharp mix of pathos and humor.

No disrespect to the similarly Proustian rewards of Ratatouille, but here is a 73-minute movie -- animated by about 10 people -- that manages to deliver twice the flavor with a fraction of the ingredients.

It’s a vibrant, beautiful, joyful look at family and childhood.

Chicken for Linda! is a delightful picture that uses splashes of color and frantic turns to immerse us in its quest for poultry.

So even though the film begins in darkness, the way it traverses the obstacles to end in delightful light hits the audience like a spray of golden light that refreshes and energizes.

A kind of hot-color eyebath, with your brain turned off...