MouseHunt (1997)

3.5 STARS


Directed by Gore Verbinski
Produced by Bruce Cohen, Tony Ludwig, Alan Riche
Written by Adam Rifkin

Starring Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin

Runtime 1 hour, 38 min.
Worldwide Gross $122,417,389
Genres Comedy, Family

For me, MouseHunt is cherished film. I have fond memories of watching it when I was younger. However, putting all biases aside, MouseHunt is still great. I used to love The Rugrats Movie too, but that obviously doesn't hold up. This film does. Gore Verbinski, of Pirates of the Caribbean fame, puts a lot of effort into his first feature-length film. Nathan Lane and Lee Evans star as the Smuntz brothers, heirs to a failing string factory and a seemingly worthless house. However, after looking into the property, the brothers find that the house is the work of a famed architect and is worth millions of dollars.

After its introduction, the majority of the film profiles the Smuntz brothers in their multiple attempts to rid the house of an intelligent mouse. Though outlandish at times, the plot works in most instances. Ernie Smuntz (Lane) has personal experiences with pests, quipping "A single vermin can bring you down." Ernie's hatred of such pests is explored early in the story, in one of the film's most memorable scenes. But the scene is memorable for all the wrong reasons. To me, it's truly one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed in a film. Trust me, in the restaurant scene, when the food gets to the Mayor's table, just close your eyes and wait for the screaming to stop. You'll be better off.

This is something about MouseHunt that I'm a bit unsure of. Are all of the film's gags really needed? Do we really need to see a stereotypically overweight man crunching on a cockroach (yes, that's what happens)? Some of the gags aren't needed, not because of its gross-out factor, but because of their tediousness. Yes, the Smuntz brothers don't have the best luck. We get it. We don't need another crazy antic to convince us of this.

But not all the scenes in Hunt are this way. Most parts are quite funny. It's only toward the end of the film when you might start to tire of the film's slapstick humor. The fact that most of the scenes are unrealistic doesn't phase me. In a slapstick comedy, unrealistic scenes are expected. What's really great about this film is how the actors work with the outlandish things in the script. Nathan Lane is fantastic. Lane's dry wit and sarcastic lines sound perfect coming from his lips. Also fun to watch is Christopher Walken's role as Caesar, an offbeat exterminator. You'll never see Walken in a crazier role and this movie is worth watching for his appearance alone. Lee Evans is decent as well, but some parts of his performance seem very cut-and-paste.

In a film with a lot of things going for it, there is something I had a major problem with. Though screenwriter Adam Rifkin knows how to write some great comedy, he's not so great on developing his characters. At first, Evans' character seems very simple and humane. In a scene he says he's exactly comfortable with killing a little, innocent mouse. In a scene soon after this, he's chasing the mouse around with a mallet with a thirst for death in his eyes. Is this really true to his character? What made him change his mind all of a sudden?

In a year of big box office earnings, MouseHunt slid by almost unnoticed. From the 1.8 billion dollar earning, special effects smash Titanic to action-packed blockbusters The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Men in Black, its nice to find a film from this time period that isn't afraid to be smaller. MouseHunt is a fun little movie, a hidden gem and an underrated production. With great comedy, good acting, a solid story and excellent casting, MouseHunt is a film you wont want to see just once.

MouseHunt is rated PG for language, comic sensuality and mayhem.