MOUSE HUNT
RATING: *** (out of ****)
DreamWorks SKG / 1:37 / 1997 / PG (language, slapstick violence, comic sensuality) Cast: Nathan Lane; Lee Evans; Christopher Walken; Vicki Lewis; Eric Christmas; Maury Chaykin; William Hickey Director: Gore Verbinski Screenplay: Adam Rifkin
Mickey Mouse had better watch his back -- there's a new critter in town, and he's the nameless animal attraction of "Mouse Hunt," DreamWorks SKG's clever first foray into family fare. Although it runs out of steam towards its end, this live-action comedy still boasts enough energized slapstick and inventive set pieces to best Disney's entire 1997 non-animated, kiddie-oriented catalog ... but consider that list includes dismal tripe like "Air Bud," "Flubber" and "That Darn Cat," and it's really not such a difficult feat to pull off. Still, throw the two rodents in a boxing arena, and I'll be hoping that the mouse from "Mouse Hunt" knocks some sense back into Mickey.
Nathan Lane (Robin Williams' significant other from "The Birdcage") and Lee Evans (last seen as a nervous bellhop in "The Fifth Element") play Ernie and Lars Smuntz, befuddled brothers who have just inherited two unwanted assets from their late father (William Hickey, in his last role) -- a dilapidated old string factory and a dilapidated old mansion. Although Lars made a deathbed promise to upkeep the former, he and Ernie decide to sell the latter for big bucks after learning it was designed by a famed architect. But there's a lone obstacle in their way -- a single mouse lives within the walls of the house, and he's not about to give up his place of residence without a fight.
Movies aimed at young audiences are rarely this visually exquisite. The effects blending the talents of 60-some live mice, one animatronic mouse and one computer-generated mouse are pretty seamless. The splendid production design seems to be straight out of Tim Burton's mind; the Smuntz's architecturally-unsound mansion is like something straight out of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and the vortex of bizarre machinery in their factory resembles some of Vincent Price's warped contraptions from "Edward Scissorhands." "Mouse Hunt" is a pretty dark movie -- even some of the humor can be grim -- but it's hardly ever mean-spirited.
The star of the show is neither the top-billed Lane nor the titular mouse. It's lanky British comedian Evans, whose hysterical bodily antics suggest a cleaned-up Jim Carrey without the obnoxious overkill (note a toned-down but nonetheless outrageous impromptu striptease); Evans' banter with the ever-affable Lane is funny stuff, too, and holds its own against the movie's more flashy physical shtick. Vicki Lewis (Beth from "NewsRadio") is solid in a supporting role as Lars' money-grubbing wife. And in a nifty bit of novelty casting, Christopher Walken is a macabre delight as a spooky exterminator who takes his job a little too seriously, popping a dropping into his mouth and noting to his tape recorder that the mouse has a "calcium deficiency." Blech.
A basically one-joke idea -- a mouse outsmarts a couple of bumbling humans -- is given a rather engaging execution. Their sparring is imaginatively realized (I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of that tiny little mouse making his getaway on a rolling wheel of Gouda), and although you really never fully root for either side, that's okay -- a warm-and-fuzzy union between the two parties is practically promised from the first frame they share. "Mouse Hunt" may take a while to get going (the rather lengthy set-up could test the patience of some of the younger children, although I rather liked it, much in part to Lane and Evans), and the climactic sequence is allowed to play out for a bit too long, but this appears to be one family movie that most members of the family will be able to find agreeable, not unlike the original "Home Alone."
© 1997 Jamie Peck E-mail: jpeck1@gl.umbc.edu Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1/
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