Stuart Little, un ratón en la familia

If you told me five years ago that I'd be watching a movie about a mouse who is adopted by humans, I'd probably ask you what kind of drugs you were taking and how many would I need to take to enjoy such puerile piffle. But five years ago we didn't have the kind of technical wizardry we have now; witness Toy Story, the new Star Wars, or any of the recent Disney films. Five years ago, the mouse would have been a regular rodent with a not-too-subtle voiceover. Remember Homeward Bound, the movie about the two dogs and the cat? There was no computer animation there, and you were basically left with three animals who appeared to cavort onscreen while some humans talked in the background.

So now here we have Stuart Little, a tiny little mouse (voiced by the always-fresh Michael J. Fox) who has lived his entire life in an orphanage. One day, the Littles (Hugh Laurie and Geena Davis) come to the orphanage looking for a brother for their young son George (Jonathan Lipnicki). Of course, with so many cute little boys and girls, it's impossible to choose - until they come across Stuart, who seems smart, funny, and wise beyond his years. George isn't too fond of Stuart at the start - he expected something a little... um, taller - but this is a kids' movie, after all, so eventually they bond as only a boy and his mouse brother can - by winning a boat race against a nasty bully.

There are a few storylines jammed into this 85-minute extravaganza. Stuart wants to learn about his natural parents, the family cat wants to kill him, and the parents want Stuart and George to get along. The way most of it plays out will come off as standard movie fare - predictable to those of us over 10, perhaps - but the winning charm of Fox as the loveable Stuart coupled with an engaging and appealing cast of characters makes up for any familiarity you might feel. On top of it all - the special effects. Now, I'm not one to heap overweening praise on special effects, but at no point during the viewing of this movie did I consider Stuart (or the cat, voiced by Nathan Lane) to be an artificial computer creation. Sure, you have to suspend belief a little bit for this movie, but hey - don't you have to do that with almost any movie, anyway?

Wow, there are lots of name actors are either in front of the camera or being used as voices in this unique animated-real life film. They use real people and animals (except for fake mouths when the animals "talk") and an animated mouse (Stuart, voiced by animation favorite Michael J. Fox.) who looks incredibly life-like.

The colors in this movie are terrific, especially with the house that the Little family lives in. The story has some clever stuff in it but it strictly played for laughs and reactions since credibility is about zero in many parts of this story. However, it's supposed to be outrageous. I don't think Geena Davis has ever played a nicer role than this. It was good to see. The husband was just as nice, played affably by Hugh Laurie.

The jokes are good for the kids and adults. I know a couple of parents who liked this movie even better than their kids, so don't believe it when someone writes that this is a film strictly for kids. That is not so. I did object to some profanity in here at the end, which seemed so out of place, but it's hard to expect Hollywood to get everything right.

The sequel to this film is even better!

This movie is really sweet, and I enjoyed it enormously. Sometimes it is a bit overly sentimental, and the human characters aren't as charming as the animal characters. Jonathan Lipnicki was sweet as George, but doesn't quite have the charm he brought to the The Little Vampire. Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie do amiably as the parents, but both seem subdued. Luckily, the human characters don't interfere too much with the animals, and still bring a certain charm to the screen. Stuart is wonderfully voiced by Michael J.Fox, and he joined by a hilarious Nathan Lane as Snowbell and a villainous Chazz Palminteri as Smoky. The script is intelligent and sweet, and there are plenty of charming scenes with Stuart and George. All in all, really sweet, fun and memorable. 8/10 Bethany Cox.

The Little family are looking to adopt a boy to give their son George a brother. When they go to the orphanage they meet an adorable mouse called Stuart and decide to adopt him. Despite early resistance from George, Stuart makes himself part of the family, much to the chagrin of the house cat Snowball. To get rid of Stuart, Snowball reaches out to some local alley cats to set up a whack on Stuart.

If my plot synopsis has talked up the mafia connotations of the cats, it is because that is the part of the film that I find the funniest part of the film because it is lacking in the syrup that kind of takes away from the rest of the film. The main story is quite sweet but also has a good sense of humour that will appeal to adults as much as children. It's not perfect for, like I said it does get a bit overly sentimental at times although it just about manages to stay sweetly sentimental and not fall into being sickly sentimental.

The animation is superb and only occasionally does Stuart look out of place in the frame. For the most part it all flows well together and was deserving of the Oscar nomination. Just as deserving is the animal training - anyone with cats will know how hard it is to get the little b*stards to do anything you want, so to have them do so much work is very impressive (although I understand it is all about food).

The cast are all pretty good. Davis and Laurie play it straight and are lumbered with carrying the emotional side of the film and don't have much comedy (a shame considering Laurie's talents). Michael J. Fox does the best work - he makes his Stuart very sweet and likeable; a true prince amongst mice! Lipnicki does OK but is basically just the `cute kid' that is legally required in all American family movies. The funny stuff comes from Lane, Zahn, Kirby, Tilly and, best of all, Palminteri, who's mafia cat is hilarious and sends up his own characters by doing so.

Overall this is an enjoyable family film. It may not be hilarious for adults in the way Toy Story and it's like are but it is not dull. It has characters for adults and plenty for children and it's all a bit of fun with a slightly overly sweet centre to it.

I did not expect this movie to be this good. The commercials and previews that I saw did not do this movie justice! I took my 4 year old niece to see it, and I think I enjoyed it as much as she did.(and when we left for the theatre I had no interest in seeing it!) She was rooting for Stuart throughout the movie!