Mousehunt

Smuntz brothers are Laurel and Hardy type buddies inheriting an old house from the father. They discover that the house is a real classic and worth millions. However the current houseowner, one little mouse will give them a hard time.

Smuntz brothers'war with the mouse is really great fun. Christopher Walken as the Exterminator Caesar with his weird mouse hunt equipment is wonderful.

Don't hesitate to see this film. Though it is rather for kids, it has still much to entertain all. Enjoy it.

Based on the logline premise, poster, MPAA rating, and marketing, this is a "children's" film. However, there is really NOTHING here for children; it's very violent, overly adult, darkly charactered, and mean. Luckily, I'm not a child, so I found it delightfully silly in all its hot-headed hedonism. Just when it's mean-spiritedness begins to overwhelm the fun, it quickly turns the corner, making a point about the uselessness of selfishness. Most surprisingly, Silvestri's score is great.

When I first saw this movie in the theater, I did not really know what to expect. In the end, I never laughed so hard in my life. Granted, its not everyone's kind of humor (which certainly can be seen by the IMDB people that trashed it) but it is an extremely intelligent, yet slapstick dark comedy that may have you rolling on the floor.

I do not think that this movie is good for kids. From the very beginning, the movie isn't afraid to "cross the line" by causing upheaval at a funeral. But it handles things without the gratuitous use of sex, unlike most comedies these days.

Some of the funniest things about Mousehunt are in the details. (Keep an eye on the painting...) But the thing that I enjoyed the most was how the mouse was interweaved into the rest of the story. Although the movie isn't really about a mouse (it was about two brothers coming together in the wake of their father's death), I think we all could use a little chaos in our lives once in a while.

When their father dies, brothers Ernie and Lars inherit a rundown string factory and a run down house. When they find the house may be worth millions they set about renovating it to auction it. However they don't reckon on the house's one inhabitant – a small mouse – who has no intention of going anywhere.

In the wrong hands this could easily have turned into a cruel slapstick and nothing else. It's easy to see this sort of thing turning into a Home Alone type thing with the mouse dishing out cruel punishment after cruel punishment. However it's more than that, although it has elements of those films. The film is witty – mixing the slapstick with a more adult humour and, although the slapstick is cartoony, it is also clever and imaginative in most cases.

The strength of the film is in three performances. First and second is Lane and Evans, both have an air of Laurel and Hardy (especially Lane) and they make for a good double act. Lane gets to do his usual stuff while the more goofy antics of Lars suit Evans' stand-up routine background to the ground. However the main success is the mouse. In other hands he would have been a mere excuse for destruction, however here he has `humanity' – a character if you will. This is perfectly demonstrated by the unintentional chase with a nail gun – how dramatic! How tense! But also how touching – the mouse is given intelligence and has a motivation for what happens.

Of course at heart this is a kids film and it is a very good one at that. However these other points give it the feel that it was made for adults too. Certainly the inclusion of Walken as a pest controller is one no child will get.

Overall this is well made and is more that just a crude slapstick affair. It can be enjoyed on that level but it just feels that little more mature. To illustrate what I mean – can you imagine the difference if Chris Columbus had directed it? Now you've got me!

Nathan Lane and Lee Evans star in this fun and sometimes touching film as brothers Ernie and Lars who inherit a mansion from their father. They are really dissapointed when the mansion turns out to be an old dump! They're keen when they find out that it's worth an absolute mint! They go about selling it to a collector of LaRue houses for loadsa dosh but there's one problem.....the mouse living in it! Throughout most of the movie we see the two comic stars chasing after the mouse and coming off the worse for it! It's fairly predictable but still very funny and the storyline and the scripts are actually quite original. Nathan Lane was pretty good in this movie as was Lee Evans. I'd say that this movie appeals to adults and kids because it has a decent storyline and engaging comic moments. 8/10