Once upon a time a crodgety old fart named Moriarty loved the script to STUART LITTLE... then they rewrote it... and Moriarty became more grumpy and loathed the project. He began foaming at the mouth and beating Henchman Mongo with the evil genius' own wet garter belt. But through all his belly aching I've heard good word of mouth from just about every other source around town. They haven't been doing many screenings at all for the film... at least that I've heard about, so when Hercules the Strong, a seasoned AICNer, wrote in with the review... I was very very curious. You see... there are only 3 more movies this season that I want to be good, but fear could suck... these are... BICENTENNIAL MAN, GALAXY QUEST and this one... STUART LITTLE. I'm rootin' for all three. I want them to be good... On a year like this one... the last thing I want is a dirty urine stain to wring out the Millenium with. So... What's the word on this huge Sony Children's film? Well... Let's listen to Hercules the Strong...
STUART LITTLE
***1/2
(out of four)
Directed by Rob Minkoff from a screenplay by M. Night Shamalyan (yes, the writer-director behind “The Sixth Sense!”) and Gregory J. Brooker. With Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki, Allyce Beasley, Dabney Coleman, Estelle Getty, Jeffrey Jones, Julia Sweeney and Jon Polito. Featuring the voices of Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Jennifer Tilly, Bruno Kirby, Steve Zahn, Chazz Palminteri, and David Alan Grier.
“Stuart Little” could easily be deemed the best family picture of the year, had only the relentlessly hilarious “Toy Story 2” not made its debut a few weeks earlier.
Wholesome but not cloying, and with a surprising penchant for (utterly benign) black comedy, “Stuart” will enrapture smallfry -- while accompanying adults will find an extraordinary number of its jokes laugh-out-loud funny. If not quite the heart-tugging miracle of comedy and pathos that was “Babe,” it is a solid and touching entertainment on its own terms, and may find an enormous audience in families who had their appetites for superior all-ages entertainment whetted by Woody and Buzz’s latest escapade.
The film gets off to a strong start as humans Mr. and Mrs. Little head to a local orphanage to pick out a brother for their equally human grade-school-age son. Upon arrival, the couple discover among the many adorable homo sapien kids a single mouse orphan (voiced by Michael J. Fox) whose helpfulness and cheerful disposition immediately cause the Littles to snap the little rodent up as their new son. For the record, the purely computer-generated Stuart, whose furriness is even more convincing than that of “TS2’s” Buster the Dog, is as cute and charming as the Littles think he is.
At first, young George Little is hugely disappointed by the dinkiness of his adopted sibling: How useful in a game of tag football is a playmate as teeny as Stuart? But George soon comes to realize how perfectly Stuart fits among his toy cars and boats and playsets, the two Little boys bond, and plucky Stuart finally finds himself truly at home with his new family.
The biggest laughs come courtesy of Stuart’s chief antagonist, the Littles’ fluffy white cat Snowbell. Humiliated to learn he is now the pet of a mouse, Snowbell gets all the best lines, and Nathan Lane, as Snowbell’s voice, is given countless opportunities to employ what must now be recognized as world-class comic timing. If only more adult movies could boast a villain as engaging as this kitty.
The only real flaw in “Stuart” probably won’t even be perceived as a flaw by most who see it. While “Babe” and “Toy Story 2” are so transporting that adults can often forget they are watching a G-rater, “Stuart” (rated PG) never allows us to forget it is a family entertainment. The filmmakers, perhaps wary of the the critics who labeled last year’s “Babe” sequel too dark, fail to give us a sense that the adventurous Stuart is ever in any real peril, and this serves to diminish for grown-ups the suspense they might garner from the action sequences involving toy cars and boats.
But why quibble? Thanks in large part to Nathan Lane’s considerable talents, “Stuart” is one mouse worth the hunt.
I warn you not to defy me!
I am ... Hercules!
