Stuart Little (1999) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ Member: Online Film Critics Society
Starring Jonathan Lipnicki, Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie. Featuring the voice talents of Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Chad Palminteri, Steve Zahn. Directed by Rob Minkoff. Rated PG.
Stuart Little is a wonderful movie, one of the year's best live action family offerings and a great example of non-intrusive CGI. It's a fairy tale from beginning to end, a story where logic is as irrelevant as in Cinderella or in Little Red Riding Hood. E.B. White, who wrote the beloved children's book on which this delightful yarn is based, was clearly concerned with creating a world completely different from the one we live in, and Rob Minkoff's movie succeeds in recreating White's (who also wrote Charlotte's Web) vision.
The movie opens on the day when George Little's parents (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie; George himself is played by Jonathan "The Human Head Weighs Eight Pounds" Lipnicki) are supposed to visit the local orphanage and adopt a little brother for him. He's unabashedly excited, but his bubble is burst when, upon his arrival home from school, he finds that Mr. and Mrs. Little have adopted not a little boy, but Stuart, a little homeless mouse. Stuart is voiced by that great animal impersonator Michael J. Fox (see the Homeward Bound movies) and is one talkative rodent.
Mr. and Mrs. Little treat Stuart as a beloved member of the family; unfortunately, George refuses at first to accept a mouse as a brother and the family cat, Snowbell, has an unreserved contempt for the thing. Since Stuart is a member of the family, he is a mouse with a pet cat: a fact very damaging to Snowbell's pride. In a daring, surprising plot twist, the feline enlists the help of some cat gangsters to take Stuart out of the picture.
Meanwhile, Stuart earns George's affections by helping him win a miniature sailing race. From that point on, George accepts Stuart as a brother and is horrified when he is taken away from him by a pair of mice who may or may not be Stuart's real parents.
Stuart Little's chief delight is perhaps the extraordinarily witty script written by the noveau riche The Sixth Sense scribe M. Night Shyamalan. Not only is it chock full of awesome one-liners ("Didn't your mother ever tell you not to go into Central Park at night?" "My mother was the reason you didn't go into Central Park at night!") but is also strikingly well-done; sentimental but not gooey, reasonably complex but not convoluted.
The film's gimmick (for want of a better word) is that nobody in it is one bit surprised to see a mouse that talks and walks upright. Nor does anyone really question the Littles' decision to adopt a rodent, beyond a cautionary "Inter-species adoptions tend not to work out." This helps to create the impression that the events in the film are occuring in a world nothing like our own. Stuart Little is similar to efforts like Babe: Pig in the City in its creation of an enchanting parallel universe.
Jonathan Lipnicki has not quite outgrown his cuteness, though he's damn close to it, and he turns in a more than serviceable performance. The role is a non-demanding one, but the kid handles it admirably; he's appealing but not too cloying. Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie don't get to actually act much as the parents, but they are effective in a cheesy Brady Bunch sort of way. Michael J. Fox gives a great voiceover performance as Stuart, really establishing the animal as a character; making him a likable screen presence.
I really enjoyed Stuart Little. I think kids will get a kick out of it and adults will like it just as much. It really is good: smart, clever, funny, extremely entertaining; if not terribly profound. This is one "boy and his [insert name of pet animal here]" story that's worth checking out.
Grade: B+
©1999 Eugene Novikov
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